


Abandoned- Version Two

by MissionBrandt



Category: Mission: Impossible, Mission: Impossible (Movies), Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)
Genre: Dirty Talk, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Light Dom/sub, M/M, Major Character Injury, Possessive Behavior, Possessive!Ethan, ghost protocol- Freeform, kind of fits in between ghost protocol and Rogue Nation, mission: impossible- Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-20
Updated: 2015-08-04
Packaged: 2018-04-05 08:18:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 22,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4172607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissionBrandt/pseuds/MissionBrandt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Or in other words- I read my original writing, didn't like it anymore, and then rewrote almost the whole thing(except for two chapters at the end that i wrote recently). I hope you enjoy this better than the first version because the writing is better and the story goes down differently than the other one. </p><p>Summery:<br/>His last thoughts before finally letting the blackness take over is that maybe he did stay at the hotel and this is just a nightmare. His team- Ethan- would never forget him. But it wasn’t a dream. So he lies there for eight hours after blacking out, abandoned by his team.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy! Please comment your reaction/opinion at the end! (of the chapter or the story!)

Oslo, Norway.

-Will’s POV-

It was a frigid day in Oslo. The team was on what was supposed to be an easy, two day mission. Everything was going smoothly so far, and the four of them were sitting in a warm hotel room. At five they had to leave to start their mission, which was as simple as getting information out of a stupid rich guy. Jane happened to be very talented at that.

  
It had been a month since Will had seen or talked to Jane, Benji, or Ethan. The IMF needed him to continue his job as an analyst until they found an adequate replacement, which took much longer than expected. Even when they found one, a girl named Lila who was more than fit for the job, they had been reluctant to let Will go. Ethan had argued that he needed Will on the team for the mission he, Jane, and Benji had been offered about three weeks after they returned from India, but the director shut him down.

  
Ethan had insisted on having lunch with Will almost every day until the mission was offered and he had to leave. He thought it was because Ethan felt bad about what Will had went through in Croatia the first couple times, but he kept showing up and taking Will to fancier places, eventually asking Will to dinner. It had been a very fun night, and Ethan had taken him to dinner a couple more times after that too.

  
They had gotten very close over those three weeks and, against his better judgment, Will allowed himself to let go and fall for Ethan, thinking he had a chance. Then Ethan went on the mission which had taken two weeks. Will missed him, but understood that Ethan couldn’t contact him. When he heard Ethan was coming back he got an unnecessary amount of butterflies in his stomach, but Ethan never contacted him again. Will had seen him at work once about a week after Ethan returned and tried to smile and say hi, but Ethan kept on walking like he’d hadn’t seen Will there. Will had been miserable ever since, he was even losing sleep.

  
Will went over the mission details for the thousandth time while Benji and Jane argued over which Bourne movie was the best. Ethan took the seat next to him after he got out of the shower.

“This should be easy,” Ethan said as Will started to flip through the details once again.

  
“Mm-hm.” He responded, not really listening as he read.

  
Ethan rolled his eyes and put his arm on the back of the couch behind Will, making Will tense up, and reached towards the mission details in Will’s hand.

  
“Will, give those to me.” He demanded, grabbing them from Will’s grip and throwing them across the coffee table out of Will’s reach. Will made a sound of protest and went to reach for them again, but Ethan gripped his shoulder and pushed him back into the couch softly with a hand on Will’s chest. “You’ve read them a thousand times; you can probably recite them from memory. You’ll only drive yourself crazy if you keep going over them.”

  
“I’m just making sure there’s no holes,” Will argued, “It’s supposed to be an easy mission, but one little thing could make it all go wrong. Let me look over them one more time.” He tried to get up and reach for the plans again, but Ethan held him in place.

  
“No, you’re an analyst, Will. If there were any holes you would have caught them the first time you read it, not to mention the other thousand times after that. Sit here and talk with me, it will take your mind of it.”

  
Will wanted to argue, but Ethan started talking about what he did the month between now and when he last saw Will before he got the chance. Will didn’t really want to know, but Ethan kept his grip around Will’s shoulders the whole time, pulling Will into his chest as he talked.

  
Finally, it was time to get ready. Jane slipped into her dress at a quarter to. Ethan dressed in a tuxedo and, despite himself, Will couldn’t take his eyes off of him.

“What are we going to do after this?” Benji asked as he came back into the main room.

  
“Bar?” Jane suggested.

“I’m in.” Ethan passively agreed “How about you, Will?”

  
Will didn’t know what to say. He was feeling a bit better about his and Ethan’s relationship, thinking that maybe the last two weeks had been a misunderstanding, but as much as he wanted to spend time with Ethan, he really needed the sleep.

  
“I think I’m going to come back here, haven’t got much sleep lately.”

  
As soon as he said it he wished he didn’t. Concern passed over Ethan’s face immediately.

 

“Okay.” Ethan said slowly, eyeing him.

 

“I’m fine for the mission, though.” He added quickly, trying to cover up his mistake.

  
“Right.” Ethan responded distractedly, like that wasn’t really what he was worried about.

  
Maybe Ethan thought he was still shaken up about ‘Julia being dead’. He would never have guessed that it was because Will had missed him the month they’d been apart. Will felt a rush of embarrassment and shame whenever he thought about it, he couldn’t stand being this dependent on someone else for something as basic as sleeping. All these feelings were set in a circle chain reaction that he went through nightly, all leading to him to the same point- getting absolutely no sleep.

  
They all got their stuff together and walked out with Will last behind Ethan. Ethan looked back at him.

  
“Look, maybe you should stay here and get some sleep. This should be very simple, we probably won’t need a quick escape.”

  
“I’m fine, Ethan. I was just thinking ahead. I’m fine for this, I just don’t want to go out after.”

  
“I get that, but you can just go to sleep now. If you’re tired you won’t be at 100%, which isn’t safe.”

  
“I have to stand in a rain drain, that’s all. Like you said, you probably won’t need the quick escape into it anyway, but I should be there just in case.”

  
“Exactly, we won’t need it, so-”

  
“Drop it Ethan,” Jane interrupted. “He’s fine for the mission. We need to go.”

  
Ethan did as she said, but didn’t look happy about it. He tried to get Brandt to just stay and watch the car when they got there, and Jane agreed with him. Will was angry with her, he felt like a child being told no instead of the field agent he was, but as soon as Ethan walked into the building she told him to go get where he was supposed to.

 

“You never know when things can go wrong,” Jane said. “If we need a quick escape, we need you to be there. I'll deal with Ethan afterwards if he catches us, but just try and make it back to to the car before he does.”

  
It wasn’t long before they were in position- Ethan and Jane walking into the party, Benji in the storage closet keeping track of everything, and him down below the huge house in the large, brick rain sewer just in case Ethan or Jane need a quick escape or back up.

  
He was pacing back and forth in the dark, cold sewer, making sure to keep close to the entrance above his head that lead into the basement of the house. The bottom of the sewer had small stream of rain water running along it, and he silently thanked god that it was a rain water sewer and not a sewage one. He was freezing wearing only a heavy turtle neck- why the hell he didn’t think to bring a coat he didn’t know. He wrapped his arms around himself and focused on not letting his teeth chatter as he listened to his team members talk over the com. everything seemed to be going well.

  
“Mars, you set?” Ethan asked.

  
“All set” Replied Benji.

  
“Venus?” Ethan spoke.

  
“Ready.” Jane said.

  
He waited for Ethan to ask for Saturn, but he never did. He knew Ethan hadn’t meant anything by it, he thought Will was in the car. It probably slipped by him, Ethan was busy and wanted to get this over with. Will couldn’t help but feel a bit upset though, he and Ethan had obviously gotten a lot closer over those three weeks, and it looked like things were going to get better again. He couldn’t keep his mind off Ethan, and Ethan forgot to ask if he were in position, even if that position was in the car, as if he never crossed his mind. “You’re being stupid” he told himself silently, ashamed of the thought.

  
He went back to pacing and trying to keep warm, his mind wandering from time to time about how nice it would feel to be in Ethan’s strong, warm embrace, before he cursed himself for thinking that and tried to think of something else.

  
It was getting colder and colder, and the water beneath his feet was freezing. Without even thinking about it, he picked up his pace, as it would warm him. Ethan kept talking to Benji and Jane, making sure they were okay, but still hadn’t mentioned Will. Will gave up trying to avoid the thought and was making excuses in his head to make him feel better when his pace got too fast.

  
His right leg slipped out from under him, twisting unusually. He felt his ear piece fly out of his ear as he went down, and bit his lip to stop the scream of pain threatening to spill out as he hit the floor. His leg was in excruciating pain and he reached down to grab it with both hands. 

  
Praying no one heard the echo of his body hitting the floor, he tried to stand back up, but he lost his balance and had to put pressure on his right leg, making him collapse again. This time, because his hands were on his leg and unable to break his fall, his head hit the concrete floor and he felt his right ankle snap. Will could tell his foot was not facing the right way.

  
As tears formed in his eyes and white hot pain shot through his head, he felt another piercing pain in his side. He looked the best he could and saw something sticking out through his shirt that was becoming darker from the blood by the second. He tried to pull himself off of it, but it had gone in on a funny angle and he couldn't move.

  
Despite how dizzy he was becoming and how much pain he was in, he looked in the direction of his ear piece, choking back sobs. He couldn’t reach it, which meant he couldn’t communicate with his teammates, but he could hear it. Jane was getting the code from the drunken guy right now, and soon Ethan would check in with everyone and say “Mission Accomplished”. When he didn’t respond and wasn’t in the car, Ethan would know something’s up and come find him. His vision was going blurry in a way that had nothing to do with the tears when Jane’s voice filled the ear piece.

  
“Got it.”

  
“Great, mission accomplished.” Ethan said, and he could almost see the smirk on Ethan's face.

  
“Let’s get out of here and go to a bar or something, I’m starving.” Benji said.

  
Will was starting to lose consciousness but he hung on the best he could, listening to his team members talking “Here it comes” he thought “Ethan will ask any time now.” So he waits, and waits, but it never comes. He starts to panic and wonders if he missed it, laying there shivering in the cold pool of water, praying that someone was coming to help him.

  
But no one does. So he lies there in severe pain, eyes blurred with tears and chocking back sobs until he finally loses consciousness. His last thoughts before finally letting the blackness take over is that maybe he did stay at the hotel and this is just a nightmare. His team-  _Ethan-_  would never forget him. But it wasn’t a dream, so he lies there for eight hours after blacking out, abandoned by his team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for giving this a shot, I really hoped you like it enough to keep reading! Your input it the comments would be greatly appreciated!


	2. Chapter Two

-Ethan’s POV-

It was three in the morning when he walked back into the hotel room with Benji and Jane following close behind, clinging to each other. They had decided at the bar that they were in love and getting married so, obviously, they were drunk. He on the other hand had lain off the drinks after the first few, he had this weird feeling in his gut and couldn’t shake it.

  
As they went up the elevator his mind started to wander to Will. Ethan was looking forward to seeing him in a minute, making sure he was sleeping okay. He was so busy the over the last month that he hadn’t got to see Will at all, and he felt horrible about it. He planned to talk to Will about it in the morning, when he and Will would hopefully have some time alone in the room they were sharing. He was glad Will had stayed in the car during the mission. He, Jane and Benji had taken a cab to the bar so Will could go back to the hotel. Will’s comment earlier about how he wasn’t sleeping bothered him. He hoped it wasn’t about Julia and Croatia.

  
Ethan stepped out of the elevator and started towards the room. He was a bit disappointed when they walked in earlier and found two beds. He didn’t express the feeling though, he wasn’t sure if Brandt felt the same way.

  
He pulled Jane from Benji and made sure they made it in their respective rooms. As mad as they were at him right now, they would thank him in the morning. Ethan noted as he led Benji into his room that he didn't really seem that drunk.

  
Ethan then walked back to his and Brandt’s room and slid the key through the lock. The room was dark and quiet. He went in the bathroom and changed into his pajamas and brushed his teeth, meanwhile debating whether or not to try to climb in with Will. Maybe the excuse of ‘he was drunk and passed out on the nearest bed’ would work.

  
He slipped out of the bathroom and, very quietly, made his way to the beds. He walked into the room and looked for Will, but he didn’t see anything. In a slight panic he turned on the light and, despite seeing that they were both untouched, tore the beds apart. ‘Maybe he’s on the couch, I didn’t look there when I passed.’ Ethan thought, mainly trying to calm himself, although suddenly that bad feeling in his gut was a hundred times worse. He ran to the couches, but found no Will. In a full panic now, he turned on all the lights and started tearing the room apart, making a lot of noise in the process. He was breathing heavily and his head was spinning in circles when he heard a knock on the door.

  
He practically sprinted to the door, praying that it was Will and he had just gone to get a soda or something. He ripped the door open, only to find (a very not drunk) Benji staring at him curiously.

  
“Are you ok, you are making a lo-” That was as far as he got before Ethan gripped his shoulders, looking crazed.

  
“Will.” he said, as though that should have made sense to Benji.

  
“What?” Benji asked, looking terrified by Ethan.

 

“Brandt!” Ethan screamed, “Will Brandt, he’s not here!”

  
“Ok, ok,” Benji tried, in vain, to calm Ethan. “I’ll just check his tracker and see if he still has it on him.” This earned him nothing but being swirled around and pushed harshly to his room.

  
Ethan paced the room nervously as Benji brought up the tracker. Benji had never seen Ethan like this, and it was making him uneasy as well. The tracker loaded and Benji clicked on Brandt’s icon to try and locate him. Fortunately, it worked. Unfortunately, Ethan was not going to like the result.

  
“Oh, fuck, this is not good.” Benji mumbled. Ethan stopped dead in his tracks, his face going white.

  
“What? What do you mean it’s not good? Didn’t you find him?”

  
“Well, yes, but-”

 

“Where is he then?”

  
“Absolutely nowhere good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hoped you liked it! 
> 
> I live for comments!


	3. Chapter 3

-Will’s POV-

 

  
When he regained consciousness he was in a dark room- his leg, ankle, and side still in horrible pain. He was lying on his side, his left side on the ground. His head started to pound, and he tried to bring his hands up to cradle it, but found they were bound behind his back. He tested his ankles by trying to move them apart, and found they were bound as well.

  
He was famished, parched, and exhausted, but despite all his physical pain flowing through him, it was an emotional one that made all them put together seem minuscule. They had abandoned him- Ethan had abandoned him. They left him there to die- well, to be captured by the looks of it- without ever thinking twice about it. He couldn’t tear his mind away from Ethan lately, he was even _losing sleep_ missing him. Yet Ethan didn’t even do his job and check on him. His _job._

  
A door opened somewhere behind him. He screwed his eyes shut. Regardless of how mad he was at him right now, he hoped it was Ethan. But, of course, it wasn’t. It wasn’t Benji or Jane either.

  
Someone gripped his hair and pulled his head back, causing Will to yelp in pain.

  
“Get Boss, he’s awake.” A harsh voice said.

 

Moments later, the two men were standing in his view and someone else was behind him.

  
“Have a nice nap?” The boss said. “I see your team left you to die, was that part of the plan?”

  
Will’s first thought was that that was ridiculous. But then he thought about it- what if it had been? Ethan hadn’t checked on him all night. The more he thought about it the more pieces fit, and the tears caught behind his eyelids started streaming down his face.

  
“Well, I guess we’ll just have to see.” The boss said. “Call the number, now.” He told one of his men.

 

 

-Ethan's POV-

 

 

Ethan was distressed. He was riding in a car with Jane, still drunk and asleep in the back, and Benji, who refused to let him drive. Benji was breaking 90 mph, and yet it wasn’t fast enough. They wouldn’t get there for two hours. What if Will didn’t have two hours?

  
Benji’s tracker could tell where Will was the past 9 hours. He was in the sewer for eight hours, in the same spot. _Eight hours_. And then just an hour ago he was moved to some other place in what must have been an airplane because they got there so fast, and that place was not a hospital or anything close to one. It was an abandoned warehouse, according to Benji. One damn hour ago and they would have been able to get him in the rain drain.

  
Ethan couldn’t even look at himself. How did he not ask how Will was during the mission, even if he thought that Will was in the car? How did he not do his job? But yet Will had slipped his mind, as if he wasn’t even a part of the mission. And how did they drive away without thinking of him in the cab? Why hadn’t they thought to ask each other whether or not someone told Will he could take the car? Why did he not think of him at the bar? Stupid mistake, after stupid mistake, after stupid mistake.

 

“Why didn’t he just stay in the damn car?” Ethan said out loud.

  
“I don’t know,” Benji told him. “I walked away before that conversation.”

  
The more he thinks about the situation, the more it scares him. What would keep Will from coming back up from the sewer when the mission ended, and how did he get where he is now? Every last scenario was running through his mind, each one scaring him more than the last. He got to the final one, what if someone killed him already? What if he already lost his team member, the person Ethan had grown to care a lot about, because he made a stupid mistake. A mistake that a team leader shouldn’t make?

  
He shook the thought from his mind. No, Will was not dead, and Ethan was going to save him if he died doing it.

  
He thought about how Will must be feeling. He was more than likely starving and dehydrated, and something was seriously hurt if he didn’t move for eight hours. He was probably scared and upset, although Ethan doubted he would be showing it. Plus, Will was only wearing a fleece turtleneck when Ethan last saw him, so he must be freezing. He wanted nothing more that to hold Will in his arms and warm him up, something he could have done 9 hours ago if he hadn’t been an idiot.

  
“Faster.” Ethan demanded.

  
“Ethan, I would if I could. The road is icy and if we run off it we’ll never get there.”

  
“Shut up, that’s not funny.”

  
“I wasn’t trying to be funny, it’s a fact. We are going to have to take 90 mph, even though I shouldn’t be going more than 40.”

  
“95?”

  
“Do you want to get there alive?”

  
“Yes.”

  
“Then be quiet and let me concentrate on driving.”

  
Ethan looked out the window. He felt helpless. He tried to imagine what he was going to do after they found Will and were back in the hotel, when his phone started vibrating in his pocket. It was Will’s number. Ethan’s heart skipped a beat and he regained some hope as he answered the phone.

  
“Will?” he asked frantically the second he answered. “Will, are you okay? Where are you? What’s going on?”

  
“ Actually, he’s not okay.” A voice, that wasn’t Will’s, responded. Ethan felt his stomach sink. “He’s quite hurt.”

  
“Who the hell are you and what are you doing to him?” Ethan asked furiously.

  
The next time the voice spoke, it wasn’t to him. “So, your name’s Will? Well, Will, should we demonstrate just how hurt you are for your friend?” Ethan heard the sound of a phone being handed off, then a second later the sound of a hand slapping skin and a horrible screaming filled his ears.

  
“Stop!” Ethan demanded, he couldn’t stand the sound. “Stop! Stop hurting him!”

  
The screaming stopped, but Will's sobbing replaced it. Ethan was holding back his own tears now. This was his entire fault.

  
“You’re a sick bastard.” he said through gritted teeth, unable to control himself.

  
A low laugh sounded in his ear. “Actually, in Will’s mind, you are, Ethan Hunt.”

  
Fuck, the guy knew his name. “What do you want from me?” he asked, trying to sound calm and in control. “I’ll get it, what do you want? Just stop hurting him, let him go.”

  
“Ah, well you see, Ethan, that won’t be possible-” The man said, and Ethan could almost see the insane smile across his face. “-because I want revenge. My brother, for your agent.”

  
“No!” Ethan shouted, completely losing it. Will could not die because someone wanted revenge on him. “No, not him! Take me, _kill_ me. But don’t hurt _him_!”

  
“That won’t do, Hunt. I want you to feel what I did. I’m going to torture him before I kill him, you know, so that he’s begging for death. Fill his concussed head with how you meant to leave him, never gave a damn whether he lived of died. I’m going to film it all. And when the deed is done I'll find you and make you watch _every. last. moment._ of it. Say you’re last goodbyes to Will, because I’ll having him begging for death before noon, and you’re not going to find us, I've made sure of that.”

  
With the man’s last words, Will’s screaming filled Ethan’s ears again. “NO!” he shouted, but he couldn’t protest, the man hung up. He tried to call back, but got no answer.

  
“Ethan, Ethan listen!” Benji said, driving much faster than 90 now.

  
“ _What!_ ” 

  
“We are going to save him!”

 

“ _How?_ They are going to _torture him_ Benji! Did you hear that? Did you hear _him?_ ”

  
“But you didn’t tell him we already knew where Will was! He's turned Will's tracker off now, but we already got his location! He has no idea that we are coming. We are going to get there, I swear!”

 

 

-2 hours later-

 

 

“Two minutes, Ethan, or less.” Benji reassured Ethan for the billionth time.

  
“I cannot believe this is happening.” Jane said with her head in her hands and tears in her eyes.

  
“Well it is, so believe it.” Ethan said flatly. He felt no sympathy for her, she had just informed him that she had told Will to get in position anyway.

  
They sat there in silence until Benji pulled into the abandoned buildings parking lot, announcing that they had arrived. Ethan tried to jump out of the car while it was still moving, but Jane stopped him.

  
“It won’t do any good going in there alone and without supplies.” She stated.

They rushed to gather supplies as Benji pinpointed Will’s location in the building, he had managed to turn the tracker back on. They broke their way inside and quietly wound through the building. Benji put his hand up to stop them when they were just outside the room Will was in. No screaming,no crying- no anything. Ethan felt his stomach drop to his knees.

  
“No.” he whispered hoarsely.

  
“I doubt he gave in yet.” Jane tried to reassure him, but there was false hope in her voice.

  
Ethan slowly twisted the door handle and opened the door quietly. He didn’t even get it halfway open before the man on the phone spoke.

  
“Well, look what we have here, you did find us. I should have assumed.”

  
Ethan had flung the door open at “Well”. Brandt was strapped down to a table with a muzzle over his mouth, restricting him from moving his head, but he was alive. His eyes and face were red, and his cheeks were wet from crying. His right foot was facing almost completely to the right, yet his leg was normal. His shirt was stained with blood. Ethan felt sick and furious.

The room was unfinished, the floor opening up to levels on the right side of the room. Will was starting to cry again. Ethan would have killed the man standing on the other side of the table already, but two other guys were pointing guns at him, Jane, and Benji.

  
“Will,” He said as soothingly as he could manage. “Will, we’re here, it’s going to be okay.”

  
The same low laugh Ethan heard over the phone drew his attention up to the man. Ethan glared at him, absolutely livid.

  
“I’m going to kill you.” He spat, shaking with rage.

  
“We’ll see about that. Drop your weapons or he dies now.”

All three dropped their guns immediately. A fourth man came up from behind them and picked them up. Ethan was trying the place the speaking man as someone’s brother, but he couldn’t see any resemblance. As the man looked down at Will, Ethan clenched his fists. “So Will, these are the people who abandoned you.” The man asked Will as he stroked his hand through Will's hair.

  
“Will don’t listen to him, we’re here now-” Ethan tried to start.

  
“The ones who let you to freeze and bleed to death.”

  
“Will, look at me. Don’t listen to him. We would never do that to you.”

  
“But yet they still did.” The man said still staring at Will, who was staring at the ceiling.

  
“Will, look at me.” Ethan said pleadingly. “I’m right here. It’s going to be okay.”

  
“Left you in a cold puddle of water. And now you’re freezing, exhausted, starving, dehydrated-“

  
“And he's had you for hours and your still all those things, Will-"  

  
“-in pain from your side that’s still bleeding, your ankle that snapped-"

 

“-He doesn't care, he's trying to trick you-”

  
“-hurt from the concussion, from being abandoned by people who are supposed to care-“

  
“-I made a mistake, but I _promise_ I'll make it better!”

  
“-oh, not to mention you’re leg.”

  
The man brought his hand down hard on Will’s leg, causing him to scream bloody murder and cry even harder, screwing his eyes shut.  
Ethan tried to step forward, only to be pulled back by Jane and Benji because of the guns aimed at him. Shaking with rage, Ethan tried to trade himself in again.

“Stop! Stop! Just take me! I’ll do anything, _anything!_ Just leave him alone!”

  
The man released Will’s leg, leaving him sobbing and suffocating, unable to breathe out his nose because it was stuffed up.

  
“He can’t breathe!" Ethan screamed. "Take the muzzle off!” 

  
“He wouldn’t chance being shot for you Will, he doesn’t care.”

  
“Yes I do! Will, look at me. I’m right here. Don’t listen to him!”

  
“Bet you feel like there’s nothing left to live for. All the pain and suffering you’ve gone through.”

  
“Shut up, _s_ _hut up!_ Stop talking to him! Will, look at me!”

  
“I bet you just want to die, don’t you Will? Make the pain go away.”

 

“No he doesn’t! Will, please, LOOK AT ME!”

  
The man lowered his face so that it was an inch away from Will's and whispered, “I can do that for you, I’ll kill you if you want. Do you want to die, Will?”

  
“Shut the _fuck up!_   Will, _look_ at me, I’m _right here_ , I _do care._ Don’t listen to him! It will be okay, I _promise._ ” Ethan pleaded.

 

And for a second, all was quiet. Ethan couldn’t breathe. Then Will did the exact thing to shatter his heart to pieces. He nodded.

  
“NO!” Ethan charged at the man as he held the gun to Will’s head. He dived over the table and hit him, but his foot hit the table and sent it rolling to Ethan’s right. Making sure to grab the gun and point it away from Will, Ethan tried to grab the leg of the table with his free hand but it was out of his reach. Luckily, it hit Jane’s man in the back and stopped. Ethan threw his hand back and hit his man in the nose and twisted his arm, making him drop his gun. Before Ethan could grab it though, the man kicked it out of reach.

  
Jane won the gun from her man quickly and shot him, but before she could turn to help Ethan or Benji the fourth man came back into the room and grabbed her and she dropped the gun. She kicked her legs out and tripped him, but he fell into Will’s table, which began to move towards the edge again. She grabbed her man's arm as he stumble back towards her and flipped him over, slamming him into the ground and knocking him out. She quickly grabbed the gun and shot Benji’s man when Benji swung him into a position where the man's back was the target and Benji could hid behind him. 

Meanwhile, Ethan was still struggling with his man. When he noticed Will’s muffled screaming get louder, he turned and saw his table moving closer to the edge. He made a leap and grabbed the end, pulling it back from the edge harshly before his man attacked him again. Jane kicked him a gun which he got his hands on, but he couldn’t get a shot off at this angle, he could miss and hit Will. Benji and Jane both moved towards Will, but two more man ran into the room, taking their attention. His man punched him in the face and kicked out at the leg of the table, sending Will towards the edge again fast.

Ethan snaked his arm around his man’s neck and flipped him over, slamming him into the ground and then shooting him. He dropped the gun and swung around towards Will. Will’s table was inches away from the edge and 5 feet away from Ethan when he dived for it. The first two legs slipped over the edge and Ethan barley got his hand around one of the others. He was able to stop Will’s fall, but he couldn’t pull the table up on his own, it was stuck on the metal structure. Will was screaming the best he could through the muzzle.

  
“I’VE GOT YOU, I’VE GOT YOU!” Ethan screamed at him. “BENJI! I NEED YOUR HELP! NOW!”

  
“I’M A BIT BUSY AT THE MOMENT.” Benji, who was struggling with one of the reinforcements, screamed back at him. Ethan adjusted his grip; his hands were getting slippery around the metal.

  
“BENJI! JANE! I NEED HELP RIGHT. NOW.”

  
“I’M WORKING ON IT!” Benji screamed. The next moment, Ethan heard two gun shots. Jane was over to him the next second with Benji shortly behind. They both grabbed the table and tried to hull it up, but it was still stuck.

  
“ETHAN, DO NOT LET GO!” Benji screamed at him.

  
“NO SHIT!” Ethan screamed back.

  
“We need to let more of it go over the edge!” Jane told them, and Will screamed in protest. “I can’t get it lose without getting some space!”  
Ethan stood up and moved his grip carefully from the legs to grip the support.

 

“We’re running out of time before more reinforcements get here!” He told them. “We need to do this fast!”

  
As Will shrieked at them, the lowered the table carefully over the edge a foot more, which allowed Jane to get the leg over the framing. They quickly pulled the table all the way up and moved it to the middle of the room.

  
Will was sobbing, and Ethan quickly moved to take the muzzle off. He slid his hands into Will’s hair, kissed his temple and whispered in his ear as Jane and Benji quickly undid the straps bounding Will to the table.

  
“Shhh, Will. It’s okay. You’re safe. It’s all gonna be okay. I’m right here. It’s okay.”

  
“I wanted to die! It hurts too much, I wanted to die! Why didn’t you just let him kill me, I wanted to die!” Will shouted, making Ethan’ heart shatter once again. Now that Ethan got a good look at him, he could see how bad Will’s concussion was. Will’s eyes seemed glassed over and unable to concentrate on anything. He pulled Will up onto his shoulder, holding his head against it and putting an arm around his back.

  
“Shhh. I promise we are going to make the pain go away. All of it”

  
“He’s not like himself,” Benji said, his face white and serious. “I know I shouldn’t expect him to be, but he was trained for this, wasn’t he? He’s usually stubborn, why would he give in?”

  
“He’s got a concussion, and by the look of his eyes it's pretty bad.” Jane told him. “And he’s been bleeding out for almost 12 hours now. He’s dying, of course he’s not thinking straight. That’s why he’s not using his training. We need to get him to a hospital, now.”

  
Ethan picked Will up bridal style and followed Jane and Benji out to the car. He slid in the back with Will. He quickly took off his own jacket and wrapped it around Will, pulling him close as he got ice and heating packs from a backpack. It was still freezing out. Jane turned the heat on high when she turned the car on. Ethan stuffed the heating packs inside Will’s sweater.

"Oh god, that's not right." Benji said, looking sick as he wrapped and ice pack around Will's ankle.

Jane started to drive. Benji tried his best to patch up the gash on Will’s side as Ethan felt his head, discovering he had a fever. He made Will take aspirin and drink water as he held him, whispering comforting words and rubbing his head. He could care less if Will didn’t feel the same way right now; Ethan hadn’t felt so terrified since Julia got abducted.

  
“Hospital.” He told Jane, forgetting they were already headed there. Will was losing consciousness fast. She was still a bit hungover, but Benji was about to pass out, so it was the safer choice.

  
“Going there now.” Jane said, ignoring his repetitiveness and picking up speed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Input please!


	4. Chapter 4- Part 1

-Will’s POV-

 

This time when he woke up he was in a hospital. The whole room was white and the light coming in from the window hurt his eyes. Light- now there’s something he hadn’t seen in a while. He squinted his eyes in pain, it was making his head hurt.

He heard familiar voices out in the hall and tried to look out of the door, but his leg, which was in a brace and being held up by a pulley from the ceiling, was in the way of his view. He listened harder instead, despite the effort hurting his head.

“Ethan he’s alive and safe, you can’t keep beating yourself up.” Jane said rather matter-of-factly.

“I’m _not_ shutting down.” Ethan growled. “He needed me more than ever two nights ago, and where was I? Being a first class idiot.”

“Ethan…” Jane tried.

“No. I’m team leader. I was supposed to be checking on him _every three minutes._ But I didn’t. And we’re sitting here because of it. His ankle, leg, side, head, and _mind_ are my entire fault. He _wanted to die._ I have been trying to gain his trust for a weeks and when I was almost there, I don’t do my _job_ and now he’s here.”

Someone got up quickly and walked towards the room. By peeking Will could tell it was Ethan. He closed the door, took one look at Will, and then walked over to shut the curtains.

“You should have called when you woke up.” Ethan said walking over to him. “You can open your eyes now, the curtains are shut.”

Will held completely still. How did Ethan know he was awake? He hadn’t moved a muscle. He felt a hand rubbing his arm and then his head. He really couldn’t remember much from the past couple of days but can’t shake this feeling that he’s mad at Ethan. Still, Ethan’s hand running through his hair gently made him feel safe. He never could stay mad at Ethan.

In the middle of his rapid thoughts, he felt a pair of lips touch his head.

“Will?” Ethan said softly. “Can you open your eyes please? I know you’re awake.”

He still didn’t move. He didn’t really know why, but he didn’t.

“ _Will?”_ Ethan pushed as he cupped his face with his hands. “Come on, open your eyes.”

Will stayed still.  

Ethan sighed and pressed another small kiss to Will’s head. “Guess you are asleep.”

“HA!” Will thought as he heard the door shut behind Ethan. Although he didn’t really know why he was happy-  his comfort source just left.

Will opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. “Well, that was stupid,” he thought.

“Gotcha.” Ethan’s voice said softly from the corner.

Will snapped his head so fast towards Ethan white hot pain shot through it. His heart raced out of fear.

“Oh god Will, I’m sorry, that was so stupid.” Ethan said rushing towards him. “Shhhh it’s just me. Calm down.”

Ethan sat down on the side of the bed and started to rub Will’s head again as his pulse went back to normal. This time, Will kept his eyes locked with Ethan’s. Will lost track of time, it didn’t matter. They sat there for a while, and then Ethan’s eyes wandered to Will’s lips and back.

Ethan started to lean in and close his eyes, and Will, after he realized what was happening, closed his too. Ethan stopped when his lips brushed Will’s, his hot breath tickling Will’s lips, to give him the chance to pull away. When he didn’t, Ethan closed the millimeter between them and their lips locked.

It was slow and gentle, almost careful on Ethan’s part. Will got sick of that pretty fast though, placing his left hand on the back of Ethan’s neck and pulling him in harder. Will wanted to kiss him forever.

Ethan pulled away just enough for them to take in some air. After a few breaths, Ethan kissed him gently again. Despite his foot being held up in the air he tried to push his body up against Ethan’s, but strong hands pushed him back to the bed. Ethan pulled away, resting his forehead on Will’s.

“No. You’ve been through so much and you just woke up.”

“I don’t care.” Will said,  trying to push his lips against Ethan’s again.

“Will, as cute as that look is, we Will are still in a hospital,” Ethan said with a slight smile on his face. “And the staff will kill _Will_ me if they see how high your heart rate is. I promise that you can use _Will_ that look on me once you are cleared and it will work like a charm _WILL_.”

Why was he hearing his name so much? Ethan wasn’t saying it, but it was his voice. He heard his name again, someone was shaking him. That’s when he snapped awake.

“Finally” Ethan said with a relived sigh. “You were starting to scare me, you weren’t waking up.”

It was all a dream. The voices in the hall, Ethan coming in, the kiss, all of it. Everything was in pain, throbbing pain, and on top of all of it was the sinking feeling in his chest. He squeezed his eyes shut; using all the strength he had to not start crying. He couldn’t show Ethan that he still cared for him after what happened.

“You ok?” Ethan said carefully. “Do you need more pain killer?”

Will said nothing. Ethan had to _ask._ If Ethan had a mild _headache_ he was shoving aspirin in his hand after taking a single look at him.He knew Ethan didn’t feel the same way about him, but he was on Ethan’s team, is it crazy to assume that he should know when Will needed _aspirin_  because he had a broken ankle, leg, concussion, and stitches in his side?

Apparently, because Ethan asked again. As much as he didn’t want to interact with Ethan in anyway, the pain was unbearable. He nodded a quick yes, that made his head hurt, and Ethan called a doctor. He walked back over to Will’s bedside and started to say something, but then thought better of it and shut his mouth. He reached towards Will but seemed to think better of that too and put his hand on the bed behind Wills head. He stood there as the weird nurse did her job. She kept flirting with Ethan, and it was making Will irritated.

After she left, Ethan started talking to him, about stuff like where Jane and Benji were and what happened to that guy that was going to kill him. As mad as he was at Ethan right now, he was still glad he wasn’t dead. Will lie there, not really listening to Ethan but thinking to himself. A couple weeks ago and Ethan couldn’t keep his hands off of him, kept running them over his hands, arms, and legs. Then he went away on that stupid mission, where something obliviously happened with someone else, because now Ethan couldn’t even bring himself to touch him. He vowed that from the moment he woke up from the sleep his body was dragging him into, Ethan would go back to being Hunt.


	5. Chapter 4- Part 2

-Ethan’s POV-

 

 

“Ethan he’s alive and safe, you can’t keep beating yourself up.” Jane said rather matter-of-factly.

  
“I’m not shutting down.” He growled. “He needed me more than ever two nights ago, and where was I? Being a first class idiot.”

  
“Ethan-” Jane tried.

  
“No. I’m team leader. I was supposed to be checking on him every three minutes. But I didn’t. And we’re sitting here because of it. His ankle, leg, side, head, and mind are my entire fault. He _wanted to die_. I have been trying to gain his trust for months and when I was almost there, I don’t do my _job_ and now he’s here.”

  
He got up and walked to the doorway of Will’s room. Every time he looked at Will he swore he saw another bruise or cut. It had been almost two days since they had gotten to the hospital and Will was ripped from his arms and wisped away to the emergency room. Will had shown signs waking up but he never actually did.

  
As he stood there thinking about how he would kill himself if Will didn’t wake up, he noticed the beeping of Will’s heart monitor getting faster. He quickly walked over and stared to shake Will and call his name, his own heart now racing. He was just about to call for help when Will’s eyes popped open.

  
“Finally” Ethan said with a relived sigh. “You were starting to scare me, you weren’t waking up.”

  
Will just kind of stared into space, his eyes looking pretty distance. He could tell Will was in a lot pain. Ethan resisted the urge to lean down and press a kiss to his forehead, and instead went with,

  
“You okay? Do you need more pain killer?”

  
He was careful with his words; he didn’t want to scare Will even further away. When Will didn’t respond, he asked again, this time getting a quick nod, one that was probably a little too quick for Will right now.

  
He called for a nurse then walked back to Will bed, opening his mouth to tell Will how sorry he was and how much he cared for him, but he couldn’t find the words, so he closed his mouth. He reached towards Will’s head meaning to run his hand through Will’s hair, but thought that was a line he might not want to cross at the moment, he didn’t know how Will felt about him. He settled his hand on the bed behind Will’s head instead and waited until the nurse walked in. She was young and when she saw Ethan she stopped and blushed.

  
“Sooo” She said, rocking back and forth, “Who’s the patient?”

 

Ethan looked at her, completely exasperated. How fucking professional.

  
“Obviously the one in the bed. He’s in a lot of pain, so it would help if you could just give him his medicine.” Ethan told her in a harsh voice that he hoped would get his point across.

  
As she walked over to the IV, Ethan started to worry that she was going to screw something up and kill Will.

  
When she was finished, she asked Ethan if he was sure he wasn’t the patient because he look like he needed some cheering up and ‘that was her specialty”  
Ethan decided it was best to just not respond. He waved her out of the room.

  
When the nurse left Ethan pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed. All he really wanted to do was run his hand through Will’s hair until he fell asleep, but he knew he couldn’t. So he found himself rambling on about stuff that Will could have probably gave a damn about, but at least Ethan bored him back to sleep, because within ten minutes Will was out again.

  
As Ethan looked at him drift back to peacefulness and no pain, he couldn’t help but wonder what it would have been like it he had just checked on him. If when he walked back into the hotel room Will was sleeping peacefully there. Despite his reputation for being unstoppable and fearless, he was more scared right now than he had been in his whole life, counting what happened with Julia. Why did horrible things always happen to the people he loved?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments please!


	6. chapter 5

-Will's POV-

 

 

When he woke up the next time, he felt horrible. He wasn’t complaining, though, at least he could put a word to how he was feeling now- when he last woke up it was indescribable. He looked around his room. The curtains were still shut, but it looked dark out this time. There was a small light on in the corner of the room, and right next to it a calendar. Judging by the days crossed off, it was about two weeks since he got here He quickly stopped looking at it though; it hurt his head to read. How long had he been sleeping? Had he woken up without remembering it?

  
When something breathed in the opposite corner, Will spun his head around so fast white hot pain shot through his skull and he yelped with pain. As tears filled his eyes, the person that had been woken up by the yelp spoke.

  
“Will, what’s wrong?” Jane's voice asked. “Did you turn your head around fast? You’ve got a horrible concussion, you can’t do that.”  
 _'No shit.'_   Will thought, but didn’t say out loud.

  
Jane called for more medicine and sat in the chair next to the bed. The one that Ethan sat in when he woke up last. He managed to squeeze out words.

  
“Where is Benji?” He asked Jane.

  
“At the hotel, sleeping. He will be here at eight tomorrow morning to take over for me.”

  
He didn’t respond, all of the sudden he was mad. Jane and Benji were taking the shifts, not Ethan. He tried to convince himself that this was a good thing, that he didn’t want to see Ethan, but it was hopeless. He tried to think of all the things that Ethan had done to him that should make him not want to see him. This only resulted in Will get frustrated with himself because he couldn’t remember much of what did happened to him.

  
“I know you’re not okay pain wise,” Jane stated, bringing Will out of his thoughts, “but you look mad, what’s wrong?”

  
“Nothing.”

  
“Brandt.” Jane pushed.

  
“Nothing Jane, I’m fine.” He said forcefully, making it clear that he didn’t want to talk about it.

  
So they sat there in silence until Will drifted back to sleep again.

 

 

 

-Ethan’s POV-

 

 

 

As soon as Jane stepped out of Will’s room and saw him, she glared at Benji.

  
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t keep him there, and he would have escaped anyway!” Benji said in his defense.

  
“Ethan,” Jane said crossly, “You were supposed to stay and get sleep today!”

  
“I got enough. I want to be here.” He said, ending the conversation. He walked towards Will’s room and opened the door. Last night was the first time he left the hospital since Will got here. Jane and Benji kept pushing him to go back to the hotel and get sleep, and finally he gave in and went. It didn’t help anything, he just tossed and turned all night, worrying about Will when he was awake and having nightmares when he was sleeping.

  
He took over Benji’s shift and as politely as he could manage told both Jane and him to leave and go back to the hotel. They went, but neither looked very happy about it. As they were getting their coats on, Ethan overheard their conversation.

  
“It was weird,” Jane started, “He asked about you when he woke up, but not Ethan. It was almost like he was avoiding the thought of him.”

 

“I doubt it. He couldn’t stay mad at Ethan, we all know that. He probably assumed he was at the hotel with me.”

  
“I don’t know. He got mad out of nowhere too, and then wouldn’t talk about it.”

  
“Jane, trust me, it’s nothing. They’re in love with each other. They have been since they met in that car.”

  
“I know that, but still, Will wasn’t acting right.”

  
“If what happened to him happened to you, you wouldn’t be acting right either. Don’t you think you should tell Ethan he woke up?”

  
“No, he would just be mad he wasn’t there for it and never leave again.”

 

Ethan closed the door after that. He sat in the chair next to Will’s bed. “They’re in love with each other”? How did Benji and Jane know he felt that way about Will? More importantly, how did they know that Will loved him back?

  
Jane was right about another thing too, he was pissed he wasn’t there when Will woke up. He also felt kind of upset that Will didn’t ask about him, and he agreed with Jane. It was weird. Obviously if Will was his normal self he would have made the assumption of Ethan being at the hotel too, but he wasn’t his normal self. He was on loads of crap the doctors called medicine. No one could make any assumptions under the drugs he was on.

  
He looked up at Will sleeping. The words “They’re in love with each other” Kept running through his head. He wondered if Jane and Benji were right, and Will was in love with him too. He was particularly proud of the fact that he could hide his feelings well, and if Jane and Benji could see that he was in love with Will, he trusted them to see that Will was in love with him.

  
Cautiously, he reached his hand up and placed it on top of Will’s, wrapping his fingers around Will’s hand. He stroked Will’s hand with his thumb, and couldn't help but smile. He'd been wanting to do this for such a long time. Time passed without Ethan's notice, and soon he'd been sitting there for an hour.

  
“Excuse me, sir.” A nurse said from the door and Ethan jumped. He hadn’t heard it open. “Sorry to interrupt, but he is cleared to go home now, you can take him. You are Brain Smith, right?”

  
“Yes I am.” He said getting up his fake ID. “Thank you.”

  
When the nurse left, he smiled.

  
“Ready to go home?” he asked Will, even though he knew Will couldn’t hear him. He called Jane to tell her that Will had been released.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I live for comments!


	7. Chapter 6

-Will’s POV-

 

 

When he woke up the fourth time he was in a wind whirl. Jane, Benji, and Ethan were running around the room getting papers signed and talking about how they planned to get him back to the hotel. He just sat there staring at them in silence and in complete confusion until Ethan looked over at him and smiled.

“Hey there,” Ethan said softly as he walked over to him. He reached a hand up and ran it through Will’s hair and then rested it on his shoulder. “You were cleared to go back to the hotel; we are just getting the last of the release papers signed now. We will be out of here in just a bit.”

  
He went back to signing papers, leaving Will sitting there in more confusion than before. What was that? All the sudden he gets to care? _‘That’s not fair’_ Will thought to himself. Getting over Ethan was going to be hard enough, without him caring. Now it was going to be damn near impossible.

  
Before he knew it he was sitting in the back of a car with Ethan as Benji climbed in the driver’s seat and Jane in the passenger one. Ethan reached over to pull Will’s seat belt on.

  
“I got it.” He said, stopping Ethan.

  
“Will, let me do it.” Ethan protested gently as he attempted to move Will’s hand down.

  
“Hunt, I’m not helpless!” he fired back, getting frustrated.

  
Ethan raised his eyebrows the way he does when something bothers him, but said with a defeated sigh, “Fine, go ahead.”

 

The second Will moved his arm up to reach his seat belt, he regretted it. The reach was a little too far, and his side broke into searing pain as he stretched the stitched up skin. Ethan quickly grabbed his hand and pushed it back down and put the seat belt on himself.

  
“See, that’s why I wanted to do it. You’re not helpless, I know that, but I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

  
Will just responded in soft grunt and stared out the window for the rest of the ride. Ethan also sat in the middle seat immediately next to him, instead of the perfectly nice seat on the right side of the car, so that wasn’t helping anything. The ride back to the hotel was awkward, Jane and Benji were acting like they were third wheels and Ethan and him had just had a fight, which in some respect they did, but it wasn’t like _that._

  
Ethan, once again, was not helping at all because his hand kept moving its way closer to Will’s. It’s all Will really wanted, but he moved his hand away from Ethan’s approaching one anyway.

  
When they arrived at the hotel, Will unbuckled his seat belt extremely carefully but quick and tried to get out on his own. Strong hands gripped him before he got his hand on the handle and gently forced him back into the seat.

 

“No.” Ethan stated sternly. “Absolutely not. You are not walking; you’ll pass out because of your concussion. I’m helping you walk.”

  
Will decided to not respond. Ethan jogged around the car to Will’s door, opening it up. He offered his hand to Will, who took it because he had no other choice. Ethan helped him stand up and then hooked an arm around Will’s waste, half lifting him so that Will wasn’t putting pressure on his injured leg at all. The elevator ride to their room was silent. On the other hand, Jane and Benji’s, who had waited for Ethan and Brandt to go up first, was not.

  
“I feel like shit.” Jane fumed.

  
“Me too, I’m exhausted.”

  
“Not about that! It’s not just Ethan who forgot Will, we did too! And I told him to go down in that sewer even though Ethan told him to stay in the car. I knew he was down there. Why didn’t I check on him? I knew Ethan didn’t know!”

  
“This wasn’t just your fault either Jane, I forgot him as well. I should have checked for him on the monitor way before I did. It’s driving me crazy that Ethan’s blaming this all on himself. I tried to talk to him at the hotel when he came back, but he wouldn’t listen. ”

  
“Ethan might be team leader, but honestly, how much does that count for?” Jane continued. “The point is we are supposed to be a team, and teams don’t forget one member just because the captain does. All three of us are at complete fault when it comes to what happened to Will. Imagine how he was feeling, down in the drain. I mean seriously, he wanted to die Benji, die.” She didn’t get any more in; she was too choked up to continue.

  
“I know,” Benji said with a sad sigh. 

 

 

(Ethan & Will- Will's POV)

 

  
When Ethan set him down on one of the beds, he immediately turned his head to look out the window, which to his misfortune was covered by the drapes. He stared regardless, seeing as Ethan was changing his clothes. Despite himself, Brandt needed to use a fair amount of his will power not to turn his head, so he carefully turned on his side. When Ethan was finished he walked over to the bed and sat on it, placing a hand on Will’s back and rubbing gentle circles onto it.

  
“Do you want to change into more comfortable clothes?”

  
“No.”

  
“There’s no way you are comfortable in those hospital clothes. I know you hate them; you told me once that you did.”

  
“I’m fine.”

  
“Ok, I’ll go get some and then help you change.”

  
Will absolutely _loved_ how Ethan could pick and chose what he wanted to listen to. He did hate the hospital clothes, but he was not letting Ethan help him change. It was time to stop worrying about hurting Ethan’s feelings and start protecting his own. He needed to find a way to forget Ethan, and that effort started now. He swung his legs off the bed and started to get up.

  
“I’ll change myself.” He murmured.

  
“No you won’t. You’re not ready to do that yet, lie back down.” Ethan said calmly while searching through Will’s suitcase.

  
“Two year olds can dress themselves if they want to, and so can I.”

  
“Two year olds don’t have stitches in their side, a broken leg and ankle, and a concussion." Ethan reasoned. "Just sit there and I'll bring the stuff to you."

  
“No! I can do this by myself Ethan!”

  
“Will, please calm down.” Ethan said standing back up with new clothes. “I understand that you are frustrated but I can’t just let you hurt yourself more, okay? Let me help you change and then you can get some more rest."

  
“I will get rest after I change myself!” Will fumed, and forgetting about his injures, shot up to standing position way, way too fast. Piercing pain shot through his head and side as he fell over because he couldn’t balance himself with the brace on. Ethan jumped over the bed, picked Will back up and returned him to lying on the bed.  
“That is why I asked you to sit down! You can’t do anything fast right now! You are more hurt than I think you feel! You cannot let anger and frustration take you over, you need to control yourself and stay calm! I’m sorry you can’t do everything by yourself and the help annoys you, I understand, it would annoy me. But I will not compromise when it comes to your safety!”

  
Will snapped at that, sitting up again and ignoring the pain that came with it. _“My safety?”_ He fumed, “My fucking _safety?_  Let’s get this straight, Hunt. You have absolutely no right to go around yelling to me about my own safety! I don’t know if you remember, but you’re the one who left me to die in the drain!” 

  
Ethan had turned white at his words. “You’re right,” He said, rubbing his hands over his eyes. “You are. I didn’t do my job. I should have checked on you. But can I explain to you, please, why I made the mistakes that I did?”

  
Will just started at him for a moment. He waved his hand in a go on gesture, looking away.

  
“I thought you were in the car.” Ethan began, and Will remembered that Ethan had told him to stay there and immediately felt bad about what he just said. “I thought you were safe in the car. That doesn’t excuse me for not checking on you, not for one second. But that’s why I didn’t, I thought you were safe. When the mission was over we took a cab to the bar so that you could take the car back here. I thought Jane was going to tell you that you were free to take it, but she thought Benji was and Benji thought I was. I got back to the room very late. I looked for you in here, on the couch, everywhere. Benji heard me tearing the place apart and came in, he immediately went to track you. The second we found you we went and found the car to go get you. We just got there in time. It was a thousand stupid, inexcusable mistakes. And I almost lost you because of them."

  
Will sat very still for a moment, processing Ethan’s words. His anger left him and was replaced by guilt. He was supposed to be in the car, he should have stayed there. This wouldn’t have happened if he stayed in the car.

  
“Jane told me to get in position just in case you needed a quick escape.” He heard himself say. He wasn’t blaming her, but stating something as he remembered it

  
“I know, she told me.”

  
“I should have just stayed in the car.”

  
“I wish you would have,” Ethan agreed, “but I should have checked on you anyway.”

  
They sat in silence for several minutes.

  
“I’m sorry, Will.” Ethan said, and something in his voice threw Will off. It wasn't strong and sure, calming like it usually was. It was uncertain and broken “I’m sorry I didn’t check on you, I’m sorry I left you down there without thinking about you. I’ve never regretted anything more. I’m so thankful we got to you in time, I don’t know what I would have done if he would have killed you.”

  
Will nodded slowly. He felt guilty and exhausted.

  
“Can I please help you change?”

  
He nodded again. Ethan didn’t even finish unstrapping his brace before he passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I live for comments!


	8. Chapter 7

-Will's POV-

 

When Will woke up next it was dark out. The clock read 2:30 AM. He sat up slowly with a grunt. He was starving.

  
He looked over to the bed next to him and in soft glow of the dim bedside lamp that Ethan was sleeping. He was lying on top of the covers, which were still perfectly in place, in a half sitting position. A newspaper was lying open on his chest and his head was resting awkwardly between the headboard and his shoulder. He obviously had not meant to fall asleep.

  
Will, finally managing to sit up all the way, thought about their conversation earlier. He was starting to remember more and more about the night of the accident. Ethan had said that it was a thousand stupid mistakes on his part, but Will was remembering several mistakes he made too. He now remembered that Ethan had also asked him to stay in the hotel before the car, recognizing that he was tired. Will forgot to bring a coat when he knew the weather was freezing, which was why he was pacing- to keep himself warm. He was too tired to recognize his pace was getting to fast. Why hadn’t he checked in with Ethan either when Ethan forgot to ask about him? He knew Ethan thought he was in the car. Why didn’t he try to call out to the com after he fell, to see if they could still hear him?

  
Yet there was still a part of him that felt angry and betrayed. Jane, Benji, and Ethan were part of his team, why had no one thought of him? He was still technically on the mission with them, even if he was in the car. Jane actually knew he wasn’t in the car, why hadn’t she asked about him? When they were at the bar, why had no one checked to see that someone told him to go back to the hotel? Why had no one checked to see that he made it back without crashing if they thought he was so tired? And, most importantly, why had it taken eight hours for anyone to notice he was gone?

  
Despite all this, he still felt immensely guilty as he looked over at his sleeping team member. Will knew he should have just stayed in the car like Ethan told him to- Ethan was team leader, and he should have listened. Ethan had gone through a hell of a lot to save him after realizing he was missing, even though none of this was really his fault. And, if he understood this correctly, Ethan had gotten little to no sleep since the night of the accident, which was now more than two weeks ago.

Will sat there for several more minutes, turning these thoughts over and over in his head, trying to find a balance between the two emotions. He finally gave up 15 minutes later sensing that he was fighting a losing battle, and because his hunger was becoming impossible to ignore.

  
He looked back over at Ethan, still sleeping, and wondered if he should wake him. If it was late enough to go to the breakfast hall he would have let him sleep, but seeing as it was 3 AM and he hadn’t eaten since he left the hospital, Will didn’t really think he had a choice. He slid back down the bed until he was lying down and pulled the covers up past his shoulders. He didn’t want to look like he’d been awake very long when he woke Ethan.

  
“Ethan?” He said quietly, trying his best to sound and look groggy and pitiful.

  
Ethan snapped awake at once as if the fire alarm went off. The newspaper flew in several directions as he looked around quickly at the clock, probably checking how long he’d been asleep.

  
“Shit.” He said, rubbing his eyes.

  
“Sorry.” Will said, and actually meant it.

  
“It’s fine, I didn’t mean to fall asleep. What’s wrong?” Ethan asked, standing up and coming to sit on the edge of Will’s bed.

  
Will had momentarily forgot about being hungry. “When’s the last time you slept?”

  
“Less than a minute ago.” Ethan said cleverly, deflecting Will’s question. “What’s wrong?”

  
“I want to know when the last time you slept was.” He pushed stubbornly, but Ethan was just as stubborn as him.

  
“And I don’t want you to worry about it. What’s wrong?” Ethan looked at the clock again. “Your head hurts, doesn’t it? You need to take your meds again, I meant to wake you an hour ago to do that.”

  
Ethan walked over to the table where Will’s many medications sat and picked up two, then went into the bathroom to get a glass of water. Now that it was brought to his attention Will realized his head was hurting. Maybe he didn’t notice because it seemed normal by now. Ethan came over quickly from the bathroom with the medicine and handed it to him, then sat down again as Will took them.

  
“It’s a really good thing you slept almost all the two you were in the hospital, it really helped your head heal. Is anything else bothering you?” Ethan asked as Will handed the glass back to him.

  
“I’m hungry.” Will said after he swallowed the pills.

  
“Oh, shit, you haven’t eaten anything since the hospital, have you? We don’t have anything here; let me see if we can get room service this late. If not I’ll run and get something for you.”

He left the bedroom without another word and Will heard him call the front desk. Ethan came back into the room with a menu in hand a couple minutes later.  
“We can use room service. What do you want?”

  
Approximately 45 minutes later, and after practically inhaling the best soup he had ever tasted, Ethan helped him back into bed. All throughout the meal Ethan had been strangely quiet and fidgety, thinking over every word he said before talking, which was very different than the meals Will shared with him before. He helped Will with almost everything, but he only touched him when he absolutely had to. 

“Do you need anything else?” Ethan asked as he pulled the covers up over Will.

  
“Not right now,” he said, yawning. “But I really want to shower in the morning.”

  
“Alright, we’ll do that then.” Ethan told him as he turned off the dim light, “Get some sleep.”

  
Not being need to told twice, Will closed his eyes and began to drift off at once. He was nearly asleep when he remembered something.

  
“Ethan?” He said, hoping he was still in the room.

  
“Yeah?” said a voice from the next bed 

“I thought of something I need right now.”

  
“What is it?” Ethan questioned, and Will heard him start to get up.

  
“For you to get some sleep too,” he told him, and Ethan stopped in his tracks. “I can’t have my caretaker passing out.” He added, not wanting to sound sappy.

  
Ethan let out a quiet snort of laughter and sat back down. “Yeah, okay, I will. Goodnight, Will.”

  
“Night, Ethan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I live for comments!


	9. Chapter 8

-Ethan's POV-

 

“He’s still not himself.” Ethan told Jane over the table the next morning at about 9:30 AM. “I think he feels more alert than he actually is. Last night when he was eating he kept spacing out for long periods of time, but occasionally when he got on a train of thought he could be pretty coherent and attentive.”

“I think that’s normal.” Jane responded, “It’s probably hard for him to concentrate on anything still, but him sleeping those two weeks really did help him heal, and not just in regards to his head. Getting that rest helped his body work on healing his other injuries too. Imagine how out of it he would be if he hadn’t slept as much.”

  
“Yeah, that would have been bad. I’m glad he’s able to hang on to some thoughts now. What did the doctor say? He’ll be able to concentrate on thoughts in his head way before he can convey that to us? Do you think he’s there yet?”

  
“I don’t really think there’s a way to tell. But the doctor seemed confident that he’s going to recover, he wouldn’t have released Will if he wasn’t. He even said there would be no lasting impact of the concussion, which is a miracle.”

“I know. God, I don’t know what I would have done if he wasn’t going to be ok. Why do these things always happen to the people I love? I should have just left him alone, this probably wouldn’t have happened to him.”

  
“You loving Will isn’t why this happened, Ethan.” Jane told him seriously. “They didn’t intentionally come after him because of that. If it was Benji or me down there they would have used us.” Ethan tried to cut her off but she kept talking over him. “You told me what that man said on the phone, ‘My brother for your agent.’ That’s all they thought he was to you. Don’t you dare pull away from Will because you think that will protect him. That’s just going to hurt him more after you led him on all that time while we were home. He needs you to be there now.”

  
Ethan took a deep breath. “Does he really care about me too?” He asked her, hating how vulnerable the question sounded on his tongue.

  
“Are you fucking blind Ethan? Of course he cares about you too.”

  
“How was I supposed to be able to tell?” He asked defensively.

  
“He hangs on your every word, can’t keep his eyes off of you. Considering you can’t keep your eyes off him either I don’t know how you missed that. He said yes to you every time you asked him to lunch or dinner. For fucks sake, he was losing sleep over missing you, Ethan. I don’t think he could have made it clearer.”

  
“Wait, hold on,” Ethan stopped her, “That’s why he was losing sleep? Because of me?”

  
“Yes, dumbass, because of you.”

  
“What, but-” Ethan stuttered, and Jane rolled her eyes.

  
“He spent time with you every fucking day until you left for the mission. He fell in love with you over that time, Ethan. The mission took two weeks, and then you came back and didn’t contact him for another two. He feel in love with you very fast, got to see you every day, and then didn’t see you at all for a month. He missed you like crazy.”

  
Ethan took all that in. “I feel like an idiot.” He told her. “I should have called him after we got back from the mission.”

  
“Yeah, you probably should have.” Jane agreed, “But that’s over and you can’t change it. You have to focus on rebuilding your relationship with him now. You need to gain his trust back.”

“Yeah.” Ethan said mostly to himself, looking down at his arms on the table. Benji walked in about a minute later.

  
“Hey guys, I’ve got news.” He told them as he sat down. Ethan and Jane looked at him expectantly. Benji just stared at them back. Ethan rolled his eyes.

  
“Well?” He promoted.

  
“I found out who that man was related to.” Benji told them.

  
“And?” Ethan promoted again.

  
“Remember Owen Davian? It was his brother, Liam.”

  
Ethan let that hit him. Now that he thought about it, the ways they threatened to kill Julia and Will were very similar. Why didn’t he make that connection before?

  
“God damnit.” He said aloud. “Does that fucking family have to keep hurting mine?”

  
“Well, they won’t anymore, because you killed both of them and there is no one else left. But we should keep our eyes out for Liam’s men; they might give us trouble if we aren’t careful.”

 

“Should we move hotels?” Jane asked.

  
“No, we don’t have to do that.” Benji said. “This hotel has a deal with the IMF. There is no way they know we are here, I’m positive.”

  
Ethan was just about to open his mouth to say they might want to just to be safe, but he heard Will’s voice come from the bedroom.

 

“Ethan?”

  
“Coming, Will.” He called as he stood up. “We have to ask the doctor when they want to see him back.” he told Jane.

  
“I’ll call.” She assured him, waving him out of the room, “Go help Will. Remember what I said.”

  
“Yeah, yeah.” He told her as he opened the bedroom door and slipped inside.

  
“What did you tell him?” Benji asked when Ethan shut the door.

  
“It’s none of your business.” Jane told him as she stood up. “I’m going to get breakfast from the hall for Will.”

  
“What do you mean it’s none of my business? What could you have possibly told him that you can’t share with me?”

  
“Use your brain, Benji.” She said as she walked out the door, “I bet even you could figure it out.”

  
Benji made a very offended sound. “Excuse me, I’m very intelligent.” He called after her as he followed her out of the room.

  
“Yeah, sure.” Jane snorted at him without looking back. “Is that why you left the door open, genius?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments Please!


	10. Chapter 9

-Ethan's POV-

 

 

The doctor said he wanted Will to come back a week later. Ethan thought this was a bit longer than usual, but maybe things were different here than in the States. Will was doing a lot better than he was seven days ago. He was spacing out less when awake and hanging on to thoughts longer each day. He still slept most of the day, which Ethan was happy about.

On the morning of the doctor’s visit Ethan was on edge. While Benji was right so far and no one seemed to know where they were, he couldn't help but worry- things tended to go wrong around him.

Will wanted to walk down to the car on his crutches, which made Ethan nervous because he wasn't very steady yet. He stayed very close to him all the way down to the car and helped him in, letting out a small sigh of relief when all four of them were safely inside and on the way. He kept checking behind and to the side of them though, getting nervous that someone was following them.

"Ethan, calm down." Will told him from the next seat. "Everything is fine. You told me you killed that man and his men already."

Ethan nodded quickly and kept looking. Jane, Benji, and him decided it was best if they didn't tell Will that there might be more men still out there.

"Ethan." Will tried again, not satisfied with the result of his original attempt. He reached out and grabbed Ethan's hand. "Relax, it's fine. No one is following us."

When they arrived at the hospital he maneuvered Will inside as quickly as possible and sat him in a wheelchair, pushing him quickly towards the elevators.

"Ethan, it's fine." Will said tensely, clutching the arms of the wheelchair. Predictably, Ethan didn't listen. Will hung on to the chair for dear life as Ethan made his way to the third floor. Only when the nurse led them to a room and shut the door behind her did Ethan relax. He helped Will onto the examination table and they waited for the doctor.

It took another 15 minutes until a doctor came in. By then Will was feeling very tired. There was no hellos or introductions when the doctor did arrive, he just sat down and started talking.

 

“How do you feel?”

  
“I’m okay.” Will said, and Ethan could tell he was taken aback by the man’s rude entrance.

  
“Is there pain anywhere?”

  
“Yes, my head still hurts quite a bit and when I’m not on pain medication my leg and side do too. Even when I’m on medication they still hurt a bit.”  
“Understandable. How much are you sleeping?”

  
“18 hours a day.”

  
“Good. Any unusual colors or burning in your side, or any other concerns of infection?”

  
“No.”

  
“Okay, then. I’m going to put you on a new pain medication that’s a higher dosage than you are currently taking, and give you some new antibiotic ointment, you can pick them up in the pharmacy down on level one. You should still sleep for at least 15 hours a day.”

  
“Okay.”

  
The doctor handed Ethan a piece of paper and walked out of the room without another word. They took this as their signal to go and went to get the medicines from the pharmacy. Ethan walked up to the counter, where he handed the man standing behind it the piece of paper. The man looked at the paper and then strangely up at Ethan, and then his eyes slid to Will. He grunted and disappeared behind a shelve of medicines, returning a minutes later with the two prescriptions.

By the time they sat down in the car, Will’s head was throbbing and he was barley staying awake.

  
“Go to sleep.” Ethan said softly as he put Will's seat belt on, “I’ll wake you up when we get back.”

  
“No you won’t.” Will snorted but nevertheless closed his eyes and dozed off.

 

 

 

-5 Hours Later-

 

 

 

-Wills POV-

 

  
When he woke up he found his prediction was right, as he was in the hotel room bed and it was several hours later. He tried to sit up and immediately regretted it as everything started to throb with pain. He must have made a sound because a couple moments later Ethan come into the room.

  
“Are you okay?” He asked. Then, ruling that a stupid question, quickly added, “Do you need your medicine?” and went to find it without an answer from Will.  
Thirty seconds later, Ethan was back in the room with the new medication, and then proceeded to half-force it down Will’s throat. Will didn’t mind at all, as long as the pain he was in would recede.

  
Will sunk back down under the blankets and closed his eyes, prepared to go back to sleep already. Sleep didn’t come immediately, though, so he lay there trying not to think too much. But as the minutes went on, something didn’t seem right. He felt that he seemed to have slipped into a haze, but it didn’t feel like the warm, drowsy haze he was used to before he fell asleep. He tried to shake himself out of it, but he couldn’t bring himself up.

  
Suddenly, he noticed his throat burning and closing, making it hard to breathe. He brought his hands to his neck despite his arms being extremely heavy and cried out, hoping he actually made a sound and was heard. As his vision started to go black someone came flying in the room to his side, grabbing his shoulders and screaming his name. The last thing Will remembered before it all went black was Ethan’s voice shouting at someone to call the ambulance.

 

 

-Ethan's POV-

 

 

“This can’t be happening.” Ethan mumbled for the twentieth time, head held in his hands. Will was progressing just hours ago and now they were back at square one. Why didn’t he have Benji check the medicine to make sure it was real? For the thousandth time if he took one more obvious precaution Will wouldn’t be where he was.

  
“Ethan,” Jane said cautiously, “No one, not even you, could have predicted this would happen. The medicine was prescribed by a doctor and given by a pharmacist-”

  
“No, Jane, it wasn’t.” He interrupted, losing the little patience he had left. Why didn’t they just understand?

  
“Wha-”

  
“The doctor we saw could have been a real doctor. His name and face checked out. He was rude, yes, but I checked the medication he prescribed and they checked out, had the effects he said they would. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t a part of this though. The pharmacist, on the other hand, was definitely not a pharmacist. I should have picked up on it. He looked at the prescription, which had Will’s fake name, Marcus Paterson on it, then up at me and Will. He knew who we were. He went behind the counter to get the medicine, where he easily could have put the fake mediation in the real bottle, and then didn’t show us what he had gotten, just put it in the bag and handed it to me. I was so focused on getting Will back to the car before he passed out I didn’t notice what was going on.”

  
Jane and Benji seemed to not know what to say back to that. They sat in silence for many minutes, leaving Ethan to silently fume over all the stupid things he did and go over how he should have actually handled them. He should have been more alert than on a mission- Will was so much more important- but he wasn’t, and god knows how long it would take Will to recover now.

  
“Mr. Smith?” a nurse said from the doorway of the waiting room, “The doctor would like to talk to you about Mr. Paterson.”

  
Ethan stood up without a word and followed, feeling his stomach do somersaults. She led him into a small room, in which, to Ethan’s immediate relief, Will was peacefully sleeping.

  
“Mr. Smith,” The doctor addressed him by his fake name, holding out his hand for Ethan to shake and then gesturing for him to sit down. “Before we start, I would like to inform you that the doctor that recommended the medicine to Marcus was actually a doctor on staff, but he was still taken in for interrogation. The pharmacist you saw, on the other hand, was an imposter. Our real pharmacist saw him as he was walking back from his lunch, and immediately called security. He was arrested and brought to the local jail, where he us being held by the highest security. I have no idea who he was. Here is my ID and information to assure you that I am not an imposter.”

  
The doctor held his ID out for Ethan to examine. Ethan took it but he didn’t have to, he knew the man from before.

  
“You were Marcus’s original doctor.”

 

“Yes, I was. I requested to see him three days ago, but got a message saying you couldn’t make it back here before today.”

 

“We got a message that you didn’t need to see him before today.”

  
“Ah. Well, we will have to look into that also.” Ethan handed him his ID back. “Now, back to Marcus. As you most likely assumed, that was not medicine he took. It was a drug that when taken puts the victim in a haze and then inflames their throat as to suffocated them. The haze is the more dangerous part, to be honest, and Marcus was lucky he noticed something was wrong in time to call for help, because most people would not realize until too late.”

  
Ethan took a moment to process that information. He was expecting it, but it still stung. He came so close to losing Will again. He swallowed and nodded slowly.

 

“And he is ok now?” he heard himself ask.

  
“Yes, he is stable now. We would like to keep him overnight, but there should be no complications.”

  
“Why isn’t he up yet?”

  
“We put him on a temporary drug to make him sleep until his normal pain killer kicks in again, for if he was awake right now he would be in a considerable amount of pain.”

  
“Okay, thank you.”

  
“I’ll be back once more before my shift is over, and during that time I will also introduce you to the doctor who has the overnight shift and the nurses allowed to take care of Marcus.”

  
“Thank you.” He repeated again. The doctor walked out of the room and shut the door behind him, leaving him and Will alone. Ethan walked over to the blinds and pulled them completely shut so the late afternoon sun wouldn’t hurt Will’s eyes. He dragged a chair from the corner and sat next to Will’s bed, texting Jane and Benji what happened and to go back to the hotel.

 

He put his phone away in his pocket and scooted his chair closer to Will’s bed. He tried to sit there and relax, but it was no use. After twenty minutes of flinching at the littlest noises of others in the hall outside the room, he gave up and reached for Will’s hand, holding it in his own. It was a relief to feel Will’s warm, alive hand in his- to actually feel that he was still here with Ethan. Ethan felt some of the tension leave his shoulders, and was finally able to relax enough to stop reacting to the sounds just beyond the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments please!


	11. Chapter 10

-Ethan's POV-

 

It was 2:00 am when Ethan woke to a moan coming from Will’s bed. He lifted his head from the edge of the bed and sat up straight in his chair, squeezing Will’s hand in his own. Will stirred more at this, opening his eyes a bit and looking at Ethan. He blinked in rapid succession, as trying to clear a haze from his eyes, and took a deep breath.

  
“Did someone try to kill me again?” He asked hoarsely, not taking his eyes off Ethan.

  
“Yes.” Was all Ethan could manage, his stomach dropped at the question. Guilt filled him up again and he felt a lump forming in his throat.

  
“Was it the medicine?”

  
“Yes.”

  
“Why does this keep happening?”

  
“I don’t know.” Ethan said. He wanted to go on and tell Will it kept happening because it was his fault, that he was careless and stupid, but Will spoke again before he could get the words out.

  
“I want to get out of this country.”

  
“Me too,” Ethan agreed, selfishly taking the bait of a new subject, “but I’m afraid you aren’t strong enough for a plane yet.”

  
“It’s either the plane or another attempt at killing me. How many will it take until one works?”

  
Ethan felt like he was going to throw up at the idea. Will was right, they had to get out of the country – no, screw that, they had to get out of the continent. People like them had ways of getting across borders too. And if they were going to get on a plane, they might as well take one back to America, where they could get extra protection. He would contact the firm immediately and request a flight home out of Sweden; they weren’t too far from the border. It might exhaust Will, but at least he would be safe again.

  
“You’re right.” Ethan said out loud, and Will looked shocked to hear the words. “We’ll leave as soon as we can after you get out of here.”

  
Will looked back at Ethan in surprise that he had actually listened to his opinion.

  
“Thank you.” Will said, still slightly stunned.

  
“Anything for you.” Ethan responded, standing up and sitting on the edge of the bed, still grasping Will’s hand. He reached up with his other hand and ran it repeatedly through Will’s hair, willing him to drift back to sleep.

 

 

-Will's POV-

 

 

Will woke up to the warm sunshine on his face. He had escaped yet another attempt at killing him, but on the bright side, Ethan was finally willing to leave the country. He opened his eyes to find no one in the room, but he heard voices out in the hall.

  
“Is everything packed up?” Ethan was asking.

  
“Yeah,” Jane responded. “It’s all in the car. Benji is in the car too, we can give him a call when we are bringing Will down and he’ll pull around.”

  
“Great. Can you go check if Will can be released yet? I’m going to check on him.”

  
“Sure, I’ll be back in a few.”

  
Two seconds later, Ethan walked through the door, smiling at Will when he saw he was awake.

  
“Hey,” Ethan said softly, walking to the side of the bed, “Jane went to check if you can leave. The car is all packed and the plane is ready.”

  
“Sounds good.” Will said, trying to smile, his head was hurting because of the sun, but he was trying to hide it.

  
“Are you in pain?” Of course Ethan would notice.

  
“A bit,” he said, not wanting to lie completely. “My head hurts, but I think it’s just the sun.

 

Ethan quickly closed the blinds. “Better?”

 

“Yeah.”

  
“Hey Will,” Jane said as she entered the room. She turned to Ethan, “They cleared him to leave.”

  
“Alright, let’s get going.” Ethan said, not hesitating a moment to help Will out of bed.

  
The trip down to the car was uneventful, although it was tiring for Will. They were soon well on the road, and despite there being no other cars on the country road to the airport, Ethan would not relax where he sat next to Will in the back. No one said anything though; all three knew it would be no use.

  
They were probably five minutes from the airport when Ethan jumped in his seat, scaring everyone else.

  
“What?” Jane demanded, breathless.

  
“That car.” Ethan said, looking ahead at a white car coming towards them on the other side of the road.

  
Jane sighed, annoyed. “Other cars can drive on the same road as us Ethan.”

  
Ethan ignored her and focused on the car coming towards him. It passed them, and Jane was about to tell Ethan that he shouldn’t have worried, but not two seconds later it did a sharp U-turn and speed up to follow them.

  
“DRIVE!” Shouted Ethan. He grabbed Will’s arm as the Benji slammed down on the accelerator and pulled him down to the seat below all the windows and bent over him to hold him there.

  
The white car kept up easily behind them, despite Benji driving the car as fast as it would go. Ethan reached for the backpack by his feet, pulling out a hand gun.

  
“BENJI, DO SOMETHING! THEY HAVE A GUN!” Ethan pleaded.

  
“I’VE GOT THIS UNDER CONTROL.”

  
“What going on-” Will started, trying to get up.

  
“STAY DOWN.” Ethan demanded, and then turned back towards Benji. “THAT’S GREAT, DO SOMETHING.”

  
The first round of shots hit the back of their car. Ethan held Will down with one hand and pointed the gun back with the other and started shooting. Jane pulled out her gun too, leaning out the passenger window to shoot.

  
“BENJI!” Ethan screamed as he reloaded his gun.

  
“I NEED TO JUST GET A BIT FURTHER”

  
The car behind them set off its second round of shots.

  
“BENJI, NOW!” Ethan screamed again as he pointed his gun again.

  
“WAIT!”

  
“BENJI!”

  
“I'M GOING WE’RE HERE.” He turned the car sharply to the right, going into a forest, and the white car flew past them, not expecting the move. Benji flew down the path and took another right when the path split, trying to keep the car off their trail. It apparently worked, because when they came out of the forest, there was no car to be seen.

  
It turned out that Benji had known what he was doing, because they emerged at the airport, and three minutes later were boarding a small plane. Ethan had carried Will up the stairs of the plane as fast as he could, not allowing him to be outside with the rest of the team.

  
To Will’s surprise, Ethan didn’t background check the pilot. Jane read his mind.

  
“Friend of his.” She told him as she sat down across the aisle from him. Ethan and Benji ran up the steps with the last of the gear and slammed the door shut, telling the pilot to get them in the air as fast as possible. Ethan went up front to help with takeoff, and another minute later they were in the air.

  
“Are you okay?” Ethan asked as he sat down next to Will.

  
“Yeah, I’m fine. Who was that?”

  
“I’ve got no idea, but we’ve lost them for now. You should get some sleep.” Ethan pushed up the arm rest in-between them put his arm around Will’s shoulders and pulled him down into his arms. Will rested his head on Ethan’s shoulder and let Ethan hold him and rub his back until he drifted to sleep once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments Please!


	12. Chapter 11

-Ethan’s POV-

 

  
The plane ride back to America was, thankfully, uneventful. Will slept almost all of the way, only waking up once to go to the bathroom. Now Benji was driving them back to Will’s apartment in D.C, they decided he would like it there best. Will was still sleeping.

  
"Ethan, calm down." Jane said from the front seat. "We're going to be at Brandt’s place in less than five minutes, and the agency already swept it to make sure it was safe."

  
"I am calm." Ethan protested despite looking out all the windows constantly, checking for anyone following them.

  
Jane snorted in response, but said nothing else. Ten minutes later they had Will safely in his apartment and sleeping in his bed. Ethan was walking to his room with water and medicine when someone knocked on the door.

  
Jane drew her gun and Ethan ran silently to the door, waving at Benji to go back by Will. Drawing his gun too, he looked through the peep hole. Theodore Brassel, the director of the IMF, was on the other side of the door.

  
"It's Brassel" he told Jane, putting his gun away and unlocking the door.

  
"Director." He said in greeting.

  
"Ethan." He responded, waking in the apartment with two security men with him as well. "You've had a rough couple of weeks."

  
"Yes, sir, we have." Ethan agreed as they sat down at the dining room table.

  
"I needed to talk with you, Carter, and Dunn. They are here, I assume?"

  
"Yes, they are. I'll go get them." Ethan was starting to feel nervous; he didn't think this conversation was going to go a way that he liked.

  
"We're right here, Ethan." Jane said as her and Benji walked in and took places at the table.

  
"You two go wait by the door." Brassel told his guards.

  
"So," Brassel continued once the guards left, "You've had a bad few weeks."

  
"That's an understatement" Benji murmured.

  
"Yes." Jane said loudly to cover Benji up, shooting him a look in the process.

  
"And how is Agent Brandt?" Brassel questioned her.

  
"He's recovering." Ethan replied shorty, making Brassel look back over at him, eyebrows raised.

  
"Agent Carter submitted the mission report. An unfortunate accident, really." Brassel continued, not taking his eyes of Ethan, who held his gaze. "Is Agent Brandt available to talk with us?"

  
"No, he's asleep." Ethan replied.

  
"Well, I'm sure he wouldn't mind waking up just for-"

  
"I would mind." Ethan cut him off. There was an awkward science.

  
"I see." Brassel said finally, looking suspiciously at Ethan. "Well, maybe he'll wake up before we're done. Never mind, we can talk about your next mission. There's a situation in Egypt. We need you three to-"

  
Ethan stood up abruptly. "Absolutely not. I'm not going anywhere."

  
Silence again. Everyone was looking at Ethan, Brassel even more suspicious, Jane and Benji silently begging him to stop. Brassel was not a person one usually wanted to cross or contradict.

  
"You're- refusing the mission?" Brassel said slowly, breaking the silence again. "Do I understand you correctly?"

  
Ethan opened his mouth to respond, but Jane cut him off.

  
"Director, Benji and I would be glad to go on the mission. I'm sure another agent, maybe Agent Garcia, would join us."

  
"I don't understand why Agent Hunt cannot go on the mission."

  
Ethan opened his mouth again, looking furious, but Jane was faster than him.

  
"I think he just needs a break. Agent Hunt isn't at 100% right now, and he doesn't feel prepared to go on another mission at the moment."

  
"Ah." Brassel said, listening to her but still looking at Ethan. "Well, obviously we'll have to honor that. And you're sure, Agent Hunt, that you don't want to stay behind for any, ah, less professional reasons?"

  
Ethan looked livid, but held his tongue. "No, sir."

  
"Because, you see, if you and Agent Brandt have a relationship that goes beyond professional, I'm going to have to remove him from your team."

  
Ethan's face turned white. He took a breath, forcing himself to stay calm. "I understand, sir. I just don't feel up to going, I don't want to compromise the mission because I'm not at my best."  
  
Brassel studied Ethan for a moment, and then stood up as well. "Well, then, Agents Carter and Dunn, here are you're mission descriptions.” He set two iPhones down on the table. “I will take your suggestion and request that Agent Garcia goes with you. Your flight leaves at 0900 tomorrow morning. Goodnight." He bowed himself from the room, and they heard him leave with the two guards.

  
"Ethan-" Jane began, but Ethan shook his head, sitting down and putting his head in his hands.

  
"Ethan," Jane tried once more, "I'm sure he won't get removed from the team. It will be fine-"

  
"He's suspicious, Jane." Ethan interrupted, lifting his head out of his hands." He knows I wasn't being truthful. God, if he goes back in the field with another team and I can't protect him-"

  
Silence once again. Neither Jane nor Benji could think of anything comforting to say. Ethan got up and left the room, picking up the water and medicine he earlier discarded. When he opened Will's door, Ethan found him awake and sitting up.

  
"Hey, Will." Ethan smiled at him, waking to his side and handing him the medicine and water. He sat down on the edge of the bed. "How long have you been awake?"

  
"Long enough." Will responded, not meeting Ethan's eyes. Ethan sighed and grabbed the back of Will’s neck gently, making Will look at him.

  
"How much did you hear?"

  
"Almost all of it, I think. The first thing I heard was you saying was 'it’s Brassel.'"

  
"These walls are thin, then." Will blushed.

  
"I may have come out and listened from the hall." Ethan let out a low laugh. "You should have just came and got me."

  
"You know exactly why I didn't. I was hoping you'd sleep through the conversation."

  
"You should have accepted that mission, Ethan. I would have been fine. I bet you still have time to-"

  
"No." Said Ethan firmly, squeezing the back of Will's neck a bit to cut him off. "I'm staying here, with you, and I don't want to hear you suggest otherwise."

  
Will stayed silent for a moment. "You still shouldn't have gotten angry with him. You need to keep your temper, Ethan."

  
"He asked me to go on a mission five minutes after I got you home! He knows you're seriously hurt, and that asshole, knowing someone's after you, suggests I leave you! Unprotected and seriously injured! I mean what kind of absolute-"

  
Will reached up and grabbed Ethan's arm with his hand, cutting him off. "I would have been fine, Ethan."

  
"I know you probably would have, but that doesn't change me wanting to go on the mission."

  


They stared at each other for another moment. Then Will started again, much quieter this time.

  
"Ethan, he said something about our relationship being more than professional."

  
Ethan took a deep breath and let it out, looking slightly off to his left. "Yes, he did say that."

  
"And- what do you think about that accusation?"

  
Ethan took another moment to respond. "I think he has a point, at- at least in my case."

  
Will squeezed Ethan's arm tighter, making Ethan look up at him again. He looked about to speak, but Ethan beat him to it. When he spoke, it was barely above a whisper.

  
"Does- does he have a point in- in your case too?"

  
It was Will's turn to look slightly to his left. Even in the dim light of the room, Ethan could see him blushing.

  
"Will," Ethan said, moving his face closer to Will's, "Will, I'm so sorry." Will closed his eyes. "This is my entire fault; I don't know why I didn't think of you. For that whole month while we weren't together, the only thing I could think of was you. Every day, every night, I was barely getting any sleep. Then when it matters most, when your safety was in my hands, I completely forget. I was looking forward to spending time with you that night. I don't know why I didn't think of you. I don't know what happened Will, I'm so sorry." Ethan ended, tears leaking from his eyes.

  
Will took a couple of deep breaths, his eyes still closed. When he spoke, he to sounded on the verge of tears. "I couldn't stop thinking about you either, before the mission. When – when you didn't ask if I was in position, I thought it was a mistake. I supposed to be in the car. But then you kept skipping over me, and I got nervous. It was getting cold down in the drain, and I was pacing too fast. The water froze and I slipped, I think I broke my leg then. I tried to get back up, but I couldn't put any weight on my leg. I slipped again, but because I had my hands on my leg I didn't break my fall. I hit my head and twisted my ankle. That's when I felt the pain in my side, I fell on a huge nail and I couldn't get myself off it. My earpiece had fallen out, but I could still hear you. I heard you say mission accomplished, I thought you were going to ask about me then, but it never came." Will paused there, taking a breath. Tears were streaming down his face. "I eventually passed out. When I woke up, I was bound on the floor of that room. That man got me to start thinking that because you hadn't asked about me the whole night, maybe – maybe it was part of the plan to leave me-"

  
Ethan, tears streaming down his face too, sucked in a sharp breath. He tightened his grip on Will's neck and pulled him closer, so that their foreheads were touching.

"No," he breathed out, "Will, no. It was never the plan to leave you. I didn't do my job, I was stupid, careless. I care about you so much; I would never intentionally leave you. Please, please don't ever think that again."

  
Ethan moved his hand up to Will's cheek, wiping away some of the tears. He pulled Will even closer and whispered, "I'm so sorry; I love you so much-"

Those three words, I love you, were what Will had been begging to hear, would have done anything to hear, since very shortly after he met Ethan. He could see it in his tears, hear it in his voice, that Ethan was truly, wholeheartedly sorry. It truly was a mistake, a horrible mistake, and Ethan regretted it more than anything. And those three words- Will could tell Ethan meant those two. After being mad at Ethan for weeks, he felt all his anger leave him. Maybe it was because he craved to hear those words for such a long time, but he couldn't help himself. Will leaned into him just a bit more, and Ethan closed the gap.

  
Will, looking back on the moment, would feel cheesy saying it, but kissing Ethan was everything he imagined it would be. Ethan started slow, questioning whether Will really wanted it, but after Will didn't pull away, he started to deepen the kiss, losing control and getting more desperate himself.

  
"God, I love you so much." Ethan told Will between kisses. "I wanted to do this forever; I can't even explain how much I've wanted to kiss you after missions, when you come back from doing something difficult and dangerous. To just pin you to the wall and hold you there, safe in my arms, where no one else can get to you, and kiss you till you're lips go numb and you're begging for more-"

Will groaned into Ethan's mouth, feeling himself get hard inside his pants. It had been so long since he'd gotten off, and if Ethan kept talking like this, he didn't know how long he would last.

  
"-and then I'd take you apart, right there, probably somewhere we shouldn't have been while doing that, but I wouldn't care. Let someone walk in, see me making you mine. Reclaiming you after a mission where you could have gotten hurt and anyone could touch you. But only I could touch you like that. Turn you around and fuck you right there against the wall."

  
"Fuck." Will moaned, "God, Ethan, please-"

  
"Do you want that Will? Do you want me to make you mine?"

  
Will moaned as Ethan's hand moved down to cup him in his pants. Ethan rubbed his palm against the length of his cock, kissing him roughly. Will started to buck up into Ethan's hand, but Ethan moved both hands to his hips to hold him down, making Will groan in frustration.

"Ethan please, please. I need-"

"Shhh." Ethan quieted him. "Keep your hips still, you're doing so well, babe."

Ethan hooked his fingers into the waistband of Will's pants and Will lifted his butt off the bed so Ethan could work them down. It took longer than Will wanted, because of his brace, but soon enough Ethan was pulling his uninjured leg away from his other one, settling in between them. Ethan leaned in to give Will another kiss, playing with the waistband of Will's boxers, which he left on. There was a wet spot on them where the head of Will's cock rested.

"Look at you." Ethan said against his lips. "Look at you- all wet, soaking through your boxers, all just for me."

"Yes, yes, just for you-" Will moaned, "please Ethan, please-"

Ethan moved his hand to palm Will again, catching Will a bit off guard. He instinctively started to move up into Ethan's touch, but stopped himself, remembering Ethan's rule.

"Good boy." Ethan praised him. "Such a good boy, you listen so well. Just sit back and let me take care of you."

Ethan reached inside Will's boxers, taking his cock out. It took every bit of willpower Will had to not move his hips. Ethan helped him, though, by putting his other hand on Will's hip. Ethan gave Will's cock a couple of slow, dry strokes, palming his hand over the head and spreading Will's precum all over his cock.

"Such a good boy, so wet for me." Ethan praised him again as Will went on moaning. Ethan gave his cock another couple strokes, and then removed his hand, once again making Will groan in frustration.

"Shhh, babe, got to get these boxers off you."

The boxers came off much easier, and when Ethan climbed back between his legs again, he grabbed Will's hips and gently pulled him down the bed, putting a pillow under his back. Ethan then pushed Will's uninjured leg even further apart from the other and up, spreading Will open. Ethan grabbed Will's hand and pulled it to his leg, showing Will that he wanted him to hold his leg there. He wrapped his hand around Will's cock again, and Will heard the pop of a small bottle being opened.

"Suck a pretty hole." Ethan told him, and he blushed. "So pink and pretty, can't wait to open it up."

Will felt dry fingers brush over his hole, back and forth, the touch almost light enough to tickle, but not quite. He moaned at the teasing sensation, almost forgetting not to buck up into Ethan's hand. Ethan must have noticed, because his hand stilled at the base and squeezed.

Will closed his eyes to concentrate on Ethan's fingers running over his hole, so he jerked in surprise when he felt Ethan's tongue start to trace his rim. Ethan didn't waste any time, he switched to broad, flat strokes, and soon was pushing his tongue into Will's hole. Will moaned and squirmed underneath him as Ethan ate him out, letting out a slew of curses when Ethan pushed a lube covered finger in. Will completely lost track of time after that, letting himself sink down into the sensation of Ethan fingering him open.

"God, please Ethan. Please, I'm ready. I want you're cock in me, please, make me yours."

Ethan groaned at his words, pushing his fingers in and out a few more times before kissing his hole and pulling them out. Will heard the shuffle of Ethan taking his clothes off and the lube bottle opening again. He looked down as Ethan climbed back in between his legs, stroking his cock as he poured lube down the length of it. He positioned himself between Will's legs and lined himself up.

"Ready, babe?" He asked, pushing his cock against Will's hole, but not in.

"Yes, yes, do it, please."

Ethan pushed in slowly, keeping the same pace until his cock was completely inside Will. Will, who'd never actually been fucked before by more than his own fingers, was surprised to find that it didn't hurt, but it didn't feel wonderful either. Ethan asked if it was okay to move, and Will nodded. Ethan started a slow but steady pace, pulling almost all the way out before pushing back in.

Will started to enjoy the pull of Ethan's cock inside him, started to crave being filled back up every time Ethan pulled out. Ethan picked up the pace, the room filled with their grunts and moans, and Will was starting to lose himself in it when Ethan changed his angle just a bit and Will felt every nerve in his body ignite with pleasure. He moaned loudly, bringing both his hands up to grab the head board, closing his eyes and completely letting go, just focusing on Ethan fucking into him.

"Yeah, there it is." Will heard Ethan say. "Good boy, let go babe. You're doing so well, taking my cock so good.

The pace kept increasing, Ethan's thrusts becoming sharp and erratic, more pushing in harder and harder than actually pulling out, but hitting Will's prostate every time. Will knew he was making too much noise moaning, but he couldn't help himself. Ethan was making his share of noise too, keeping up a stream of filthy dialogue, making Will's orgasm approach quicker and quicker.

"Yeah, fuck, look at you, so fucking pretty, taking my cock like it was made for you. Laying back and letting me make you mine. Want me to come in you Will? Want me to take you?"

"Yes, yes, yes, take me, please. I'm so close Ethan, please-"

"Do it, Will, come on my cock. Come all over your chest, make yourself filthy."

Will moaned loudly and used his hands to push himself back into Ethan's cock. Ethan reached up and pushed Will's shirt up as far as it would go and leaned down over him, slamming into Will with every stroke. He kissed Will the best he could, muttering "Mine, mine, mine." into his lips.

"Yours, yours, yours," was all Will could think to respond, "All yours, all yours-"

He lasted, two, maybe three more strokes, before he was coming loudly, moaning and swearing, shooting all over his chest and squeezing around Ethan. That pushed Ethan over the edge too, and he slammed into Will one last time and came, swearing loudly.

They stayed like that for a moment, clinging to each other and breathing like they just ran a marathon. Ethan moved first, sitting back up and slipping his cock out of Will's hole.

"Fuck, look at your hole Will." He said quietly. Ethan hooked a finger into his hole and pulled down, and Will felt Ethan's come dripping out of him. Ethan groaned at the sight. "God you're dripping with come, covered in your own, fucking came without being touched. So fucking hot, Will. You're fucking filthy right now. So gorgeous."

Will felt himself blushing all the way down to his chest under Ethan's praise. Ethan went and got a washcloth and cleaned him out and off, Climbing into bed bedside Will when he was done and wrapping his arms around him. Will found himself drifting off, absolutely exhausted. The last thing he remembered before letting sleep take him over was Ethan pressing light kisses to his temple, muttering sweet nothings in between.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I live for comments!


	13. Chapter 12

-Will’s POV-

 

  
Will woke up the next morning feeling much better than he had in a long time. It took a moment before the haze of sleep cleared from his mind and he remembered the events of the night before.

He couldn't help but feel happy when thinking about it. He'd convinced himself even before the last mission that, regardless of his feelings, a relationship beyond professional with Ethan was not going to happen, mostly because he thought Ethan didn't feel the same way. To find out that Ethan had wanted Will just as long as Will wanted him was amazing; Will got a light, excited feel in his chest. He couldn't help but smile into his pillow.

Despite his happiness, He forced himself to take a mental step back. There was no way in hell that he was going to give up a relationship with Ethan if he had a shot at one, but they still needed to talk about what happened. Last night was a start; the first time Will was absolutely sure that Ethan was truly sorry for everything that happened, and not just saying it to get rid of his guilt.

Speaking of Ethan, he wasn't in bed anymore. Will listened carefully and heard low voices right outside the bedroom door. He looked over at the clock- 7:00 A.M. Ethan must be talking with Jane and Benji before they had to leave to catch their flight.

He sat up in bed and looked around; his clothes from the night before were discarded all over the floor. He noticed the absence of Ethan's shirt and pants; he must have slipped into them before going into the hall to talk to Jane and Benji.

Will swung his legs off the bed and used the nightstand to propel himself into a chair next to the dresser. He was able to reach the drawer with fresh boxers in it, and pulled a pair on. He had to stand up to reach the drawer with sweat pants but managed to do so without making too much noise and alerting Ethan that he was awake. He sat back down with pants in hand, undid the brace on this left leg, put the pants on, and then strapped the brace back on. He pulled a clean shirt out of the top drawer and put it on, feeling very satisfied with himself for doing everything without Ethan hearing him and bursting in the room.

He grabbed his crutches and moved towards the door, he was stopping to open it when it swung open. Ethan looked him up and down, and Will thought he was going to get a lecture, but Ethan just smirked and rolled his eyes, opening the door further.

"I would have helped you." He said, moving over so Will could get through the door.

"Morning, Will." Jane greeted him.

"Morning. Are you leaving for the mission soon?"

"Yes, Benji is putting our stuff in the car right now; when he comes back up we are going to leave."

"Let's go get you something to eat." Ethan interrupted, putting his hand on Will's back and willing him to move. "It's been a long time since you've had a proper meal."

Ethan made Will sit down at the table when they got to the kitchen and moved this crutches out of reach. Jane sat down across from him and they chatted as Ethan got Will breakfast. Benji walked in soon after Ethan placed a plate of eggs in front of Will. He looked very annoyed.

"What took you so long?" Jane asked him.

"I was walking down the stairs when everything, _everything,_ fell out of my bag. It took me forever to gather it up."

"Well maybe if you bought a new bag instead of using the same one you've had since you were 16, that wouldn't happen." Jane said smartly, making Ethan and Will laugh.

"You know what, I don't need this." Benji said, throwing his hands up. "Let's go, we have to pick up Agent Garcia."

"True, don't want to keep Abby waiting. Bye, Will, Ethan" Jane said, standing up from the table.

"Bye, guys. Get better, Will." Benji called as they walked out of the room. No sooner had the door closed that Will felt Ethan's lips right behind his ear.

"Morning." Ethan whispered into his skin, snaking his arms under Will's and holding him the best he could with a chair back in between them.

"Mhmm." was Will's response as he leaned his head back into Ethan's lips. Ethan gave him a few more kisses and then, to Will's disappointment, pulled back.

"Finish your eggs; they are going to get cold." Ethan commanded him, walking back over the stove to make his own. "You look better than you have in a long time this morning."

"Thanks." Will said around his fork.

"How does your head feel?"

"It's pretty good."

"Is the light hurting it?"

"A bit." Ethan closed the blinds and then got Will's medicine from the counter and brought it over with a glass of water.

"Take these, it'll help." He handed Will the glass and pills and kissed his forehead before returning to the stove. "I need to make another doctor appointment for you. Is tomorrow okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine."

"Does anything else hurt? Your leg or side?"

"A bit, but the medicine will help. I'm fine, Ethan, really."

"And anything we did last night, nothing went too far, did it?" Ethan questioned as he sat down across from Will with his food. Will fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"No, of course not. Seriously, Ethan, I'm not fragile."

"I'm not saying you’re fragile. I'm checking to make sure you feel okay. I care about you, I wanted to make sure you were."

Will blushed and looked down. "I'm okay." Ethan hooked his foot around Will's uninjured one.

"Good." They ate mostly in silence after that. Will tried to get up and help clear the table but Ethan forced him back into his chair.

"Let's move into the living room." Ethan suggested after he finished with the dishes. Will stood up to reach for his crutches, but Ethan walked up to him and picked him up instead.

"Really?" Will asked as he was carried out of the room.

"Really what?"

"You know what."

"No, I don't"

"Yes, you-" Will started, but Ethan cut him off by kissing him as he set him down on the couch. Ethan put up the foot rest so Will could rest his leg.

"That's wasn’t fair." Will whined as Ethan sat down next to him and put his arm around his shoulder, pulling Will close to him.

"Oh, you poor thing." Ethan said, sarcastically sympathetic voice he leaned in to kiss Will again. They stayed like that for a while, making out in slow, deep kisses. It felt good to be able to sit there and lazily make out, not having to worry about anything. No immediate danger or time limits. Will felt safe in his own home and tucked under Ethan's arm.

Will didn't think he could ever get sick of kissing Ethan, but he had a nagging in the back of his mind, knowing that he still wanted to talk about what happened. He started to think about that more and more, and Ethan must have been able to tell because he broke the kiss.

"You’re tensing up again," he said, rubbing Will's neck and back, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just-" Will broke off, unsure of how to continue.

"You just what?" Ethan prompted him.

"I, I just don't feel done talking about what happened."

"Then let's talk about it. What's bothering you?"

Will turned his head away. "I-I know your sorry." He started. Ethan tightened his grip on him. "And I want to have a relationship with you, I do. But how do I know-” Will stopped and took a deep breath, “-how do I know it won’t happen again?”

Ethan tugged at his neck to try and get Will to look at him, but Will kept his eyes averted. Ethan started stroking his thumb over the back of Will’s neck and sighed softly before answering him.

  
“I,” Ethan began, trying to find the right words. “I understand why you feel that way. I get that if I cared about you then as much as I do now, what’s stopping me from forgetting again? But I swear to god it’s not going to happen again, because if nothing else, the reminder of what happened this time will have me asking about you every two minutes when you can, and if you want to, go back in the field. And now that I can show you my feelings, I’m going to stop at nothing to get you back in my arms after every mission. I promise, Will, that I will never let it happen again.”

Will had closed his eyes while Ethan was talking, listening to every word he said. They had the effect Will had been hoping for. Ethan’s calm but strong and sure voice along with his logical reasoning had reassured him finally; Will felt a knot in his chest release that he hadn’t known was there. He didn’t feel that he was giving in easy anymore, or giving into his feelings for Ethan and just letting the incident go. He sat there for a moment focusing on his thoughts before Ethan’s voice pulled him out of them.

“Will?” Ethan asked, something timid and scared lingering in his voice. Will nodded.

“I believe you,” He breathed out, “I trust you.”

He heard Ethan let out a sign of relief and then felt his forehead rest against the side of Will’s head.

“I love you so much,” Ethan whispered to him, “so, so much.”

“I love you too.” Will told him, then laughed softly. “God, when did we get so sappy?”

Ethan snorted into his hair. “Love does disgusting things to people I guess.”

Will laughed more loudly this time. “As long as we aren’t the couple that can’t keep their hands off each other in public, I’m fine with being sappy when it’s just us.”

“Aw, sweetheart-”

“Oh, god, don’t call me that.” Will interrupted as Ethan laughed. “I take that back, no being sappy.”

“I’ll be sappy if I want to.” Ethan told him, kissing behind Will’s ear. “And for the record, I think we can say that we love each other without it qualifying as sappy.”

“Whatever.” Will said distractedly as Ethan started kissing and licking at his ear. He thought of something suddenly.

“When will Jane and Benji be back?” He asked as Ethan teased him.

“Not for at least four days.” Ethan whispered into his ear, “Don’t worry, we have plenty of time.”

_‘Yeah,’_ Will thought as Ethan turned his head to kiss him properly, _‘Yeah, we do.'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I would love your input!
> 
> The epoligue for this story will be written, but i can't write it yet. The reason is that i want this story to fit in between Ghost Protocol and Rogue Nation, but I need to see M:I 5 before i can be sure that it does. Check back sometime after July 31st, 2015!


	14. Chapter 13

 -9 Months Later- 

-Will's POV-

 

It had taken much longer than he had liked, but finally Will was cleared for field work again. It had been a long nine months of recovery, especially when Ethan ran out of excuses and had to get back to work about a month after they arrived back in the States.

 

"I promise I'll call as much as I can." He said as he kissed Will goodbye before his first mission back. 

 

"I know you will," Will told him, "But don't be stupid about it, okay? Don't call me if you're not 100% sure you won't be caught." 

 

Ethan rolled his eyes at him. "We can go secure with any phone now, Will. I can call you anytime I want." 

 

Ethan was in the elevator when he screamed through the doors "Oh, by the way, Benji is staying overnight with you until I get back! He'll be here after work everyday!" 

 

"Really, Ethan?" 

 

"Take your meds, love you!"

 

About 3 months after he got home, he was cleared by the IMF doctor to go back to work as an analyst. He enjoyed having something to do everyday, but found that now he actually missed field work. He helped Benji, Luther, and Ethan as much as he could with what they were working on. Jane couldn't help, she was in deep cover on a mission that was on it's fourth month. Ethan needed the most help by far, he was tracking a organization he called the syndicate, but they were all having trouble proving it was real.

 

 

For that reason, Ethan was gone a lot, so they had to make the most of their alone time. Despite that complication, their relationship was going great.  They had agreed to always call if they felt unsure about anything, but both of them understood what it meant to work for the IMF, so they knew that talking time on missions would be limited. They had also agreed to only refer to each other as Ethan and Brandt, like they did before, on missions and at work. They didn't want to give Brassel any reason to separate them. For that same reason and for their own safety, they agreed to not tell anyone else about their relationship that didn't already know. 

 

Finally, nine months later, Will was cleared for field work. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to report to the field right away. The CIA had decided to file a complaint with the board, saying that the IMF was an out of control organization and needed to be shut down. Brandt was given the task to try and defend the IMF, though no one seemed to have very high hopes. His exact orders were to "Do your best, but seriously, just delay them as long as possible."

 

About two weeks after he was cleared, Ethan, Benji, and Will received a mission that involved making sure some type of weapon didn't make it onto a plane. 

 

"It's so nice of the IMF to tell us what kind of weapons we're are dealing with." Benji said through the com, "We work for such a considerate agency." 

 

"We all agree Benji," Will said back to him from his control room, smirking, "But no matter what it is, _make sure the package does not get on that plane._ " 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I SAW THE MOVIE AND IT WAS SO GOOD THAT I SAW IT AGAIN AND I STILL HAVEN'T HAD ENOUGH OF IT. (My only complaint is that there wasn't nearly enough shared scene time between Brandt and Ethan, but I'll let it go because the rest was good and because I'm expecting it in the sixth and they have better have more scenes together in that one.)
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all like the ending, I did my best to connect the end of the story to Rogue Nation! 
> 
> Tell me what you thought about it in the comments!

**Author's Note:**

> I live for comments!


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